Lactose tolerance spread throughout Europe in only a few thousand years

EurekAlert! ^ | September 3, 2020 | Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz

[Gamecock]

I adore lactose. Gluten too!

[Bon of Babble]

I am lactose tolerant (Northern European descent). Husband is not (Southern European descent) - and every once in a while I forget... made linguini alfredo one night, which is full of cheese, cream and butter - and it sent him to the bathroom for most of the rest of the night.

I’d totally forgotten - and apparently he had too.

We’re still married, BTW.

[SunkenCiv]

Of course, it was linguini alfredo. All would naturally be forgiven. :^)

[nicollo]

"This is a huge difference when you consider that there cannot be many more than 120 human generations between then and today."

Really useful to remind ourselves how few generations there are when measured against years. It's like viewing yards versus miles. Makes so much more sense in human history to think in terms of generations instead of years.

[colorado tanker]

We make it with real Parmigiano Reggiano. Now that is good eats! We're both of English, Irish and German ancestry.

But, didn't the Italians invent Fettuccine Alfredo?

[Svartalfiar]

It's interesting that cows could drink contaminated water and convert it to pure milk that humans could drink. Why didn't the cows get sick on the same contaminated water that would have sickened humans?

Many animals don't get sick from water that humans can't really drink. They're still often infected with tapeworms or other symptoms that aren't readily visible. Also, many bacteria and viri can only infect certain animals. So something that kills a human may do nothing to a dog or cow or horse.

[SunkenCiv]

Why Did Europeans Evolve Into Becoming Lactose Tolerant?
Famine and disease from millennia ago likely spurred the rapid evolution of the trait on the continent
Brian Handwerk
Science Correspondent
July 27, 2022
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/famine-and-diseases-likely-drove-europeans-ability-to-digest-milk-180980483/

[SunkenCiv]

This topic was posted 9/17/2020.