Why let a little thing like, ya know... FACTS get the way. Turns out, the only critters who are supposed to be drinking milk are calves. You don't see a full-grown cow trying to suckle milk. It doesn't make sense for humans, either.
Why do infants & kittens & calves drink suckle? Reason #1: mother's milk is enriched with all sorts of good stuff - like proteins, vitamins & antibodies - that help give babies a better shot at surviving infancy & beyond. And the fat helps them quickly pack on weight, also increasing their odds for survival.
Okay, that explains why a baby drinks milk. Why a youngster, a teen, a young adult, an oldster?
Just like cats, humans were NOT designed to drink milk. The plan was that after we weaned, H2O would literally be our water of life. Up until about 7,500 years ago, our older-kid & grown-up bodies were lactose intolerant. We gradually developed the capacity to drink milk without getting sick. Drinking milk did have major advantages - it helped supply vitamin D & calcium, was an incredibly more reliable source of protein- and calorie-rich foods than hunting/gathering & seasonal crops, and less easily contaminated than water supplies. It was, in a word, convenient. Yes, milk was the first convenient fast food.
For all it's convenience & all the advantages it gave the people who drank it - packed on more heft, developed healthier bones, was more reliable & came in a package that could ultimately be killed for it's meat - the original plan never designated humans as milk drinkers. And for a good reason. With all the advantages dairy brought to our lives, it had & has more draw backs than blessings.
Well, it was never all that smart, at least in the long run. Dairy has been pegged as one of the worst foods for causing inflammation, second only to gluten. Yuck - it causes all sorts of nasties, from bloating & gas to constipation & diarrhea, as well as acne!
"Who's got milk?" More like, "Who was bamboozled by the American Dairy Council!"
Many reasons have been
put forward for why being able to drink fresh milk should be such an
advantage. For example, milk can compensate for the lack of sunlight and
synthesis of vitamin D in skin at more northern latitudes, since
vitamin D is required for calcium absorption and milk provides a good
dietary source of both nutrients. Milk also provides a calorie- and
protein-rich food source, comes in a relatively constant supply compared
to the boom-and-bust of seasonal crops, and would have been less
contaminated than water supplies.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news170657572.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news170657572.html#jCp
Many reasons have been
put forward for why being able to drink fresh milk should be such an
advantage. For example, milk can compensate for the lack of sunlight and
synthesis of vitamin D in skin at more northern latitudes, since
vitamin D is required for calcium absorption and milk provides a good
dietary source of both nutrients. Milk also provides a calorie- and
protein-rich food source, comes in a relatively constant supply compared
to the boom-and-bust of seasonal crops, and would have been less
contaminated than water supplies.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news170657572.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news170657572.html#jCp
Many reasons have been put forward for why being able to drink fresh
milk should be such an advantage. For example, milk can compensate for
the lack of sunlight and synthesis of vitamin D in skin at more northern
latitudes, since vitamin D is required for calcium absorption and milk
provides a good dietary source of both nutrients. Milk also provides a
calorie- and protein-rich food source, comes in a relatively constant
supply compared to the boom-and-bust of seasonal crops, and would have
been less contaminated than water supplies.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news170657572.html#jCp
Read more at: http://phys.org/news170657572.html#jCp
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