Comments on: When Humans First Got Milk

By: Kapan Manusia Pertama Kali Minum Susu ? « tidak menarik

Kapan Manusia Pertama Kali Minum Susu ? « tidak menarik — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:03:56 +0000

[...] blog Food & Think, Amanda Bensen bertanya “Apakah Anda pernah berpikir untuk berhenti minum susu ? tentang [...]

By: World’s Strangest | When Did Humans First Start Drinking Milk?

World’s Strangest | When Did Humans First Start Drinking Milk? — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:11:35 +0000

[...] via Food & Think | Image: U.S. Department of [...]

By: Amanda Bensen

Amanda Bensen — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:12:45 +0000

Great question, Rosalyn! You’re right, human breast milk has lots of lactose, and babies are born with the ability to digest it. But after weaning, and as we age, our ability to produce the necessary digestive enzyme (lactase) decreases or even disappears entirely.

So I should have specified that the evolutionary adaptation was in order to KEEP producing lactase as adults (that’s why scientists use the term “lactase persistence”).

Thanks for asking!

By: Rosalyn

Rosalyn — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:33:22 +0000

Did we really need an evolutionary adaptation to produce lactase? Human milk contains more lactose than cow and goat milk, for example, so it seems that we would have had lactase already to digest mother’s milk.