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Boatboy24 said:
Hate to break it to ya, but your friend is right. ;)
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Humans are the only mammals that drink milk after they have weaned and we are able to digest milk only because we have acquired a genetic defect that allows for this bizarre phenomenon and in our evolutionary history that "defect" may have had a real benefit when other sources of fats and sugars may have been beyond scarce. For healthy humans who do have good access to fats and sugars, milk should perhaps be considered a luxury food that is full of empty calories and the only reason to drink it is because you like it. It really has absolutely no health value - zero - for anyone, older than about 2, who has access to a range of foods. Even the fact that it is a good source of calcium has no proven benefit to anyone in terms of their bone health. Statistically, those who drink milk are not less likely to suffer from low bone density or broken bones when they fall.
In fact, the one group of people who do not have this deficiency are those we call lactose intolerant. Ironic , ain't it. Those who don't have the defect we view as "sick" and those who do, we view as "normal"... Could be an episode right out of Twilight Zone. You know, the one where the beautiful woman was hospitalized to treat her ugliness, while all the doctors and nurses looked like swine (and I write all this as a cheese maker who very rarely considers drinking milk)
 
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Ha you beat me to it Bernard! I've always found it weird that adults drink and like milk. That said it's hard to look down on anyone when you drink as much half and half and eat as much cheese as I do. I mean I could live without it but life wouldn't be as fun.

I took a tour of one of the largest dairy farms around here, modern and fancy but wow it was a lot. Plus the keeping the cows pregnant perpetually to keep the milk flowing. I'll stop but the modern way might not always be best.
 
BernardSmith said:
Humans are the only mammals that drink milk after they have weaned and we are able to digest milk only because we have acquired a genetic defect that allows for this bizarre phenomenon and in our evolutionary history that "defect" may have had a real benefit when other sources of fats and sugars may have been beyond scarce. For healthy humans who do have good access to fats and sugars, milk should perhaps be considered a luxury food that is full of empty calories and the only reason to drink it is because you like it. It really has absolutely no health value - zero - for anyone, older than about 2, who has access to a range of foods. Even the fact that it is a good source of calcium has no proven benefit to anyone in terms of their bone health. Statistically, those who drink milk are not less likely to suffer from low bone density or broken bones when they fall.
In fact, the one group of people who do not have this deficiency are those we call lactose intolerant. Ironic , ain't it. Those who don't have the defect we view as "sick" and those who do, we view as "normal"... Could be an episode right out of Twilight Zone. You know, the one where the beautiful woman was hospitalized to treat her ugliness, while all the doctors and nurses looked like swine (and I write all this as a cheese maker who very rarely considers drinking milk)
Click to expand...

Quoting my dairy farmer father in law: "The cow is the mother of humankind." Mmmm... Milk! And steak! Mmmm...
 
toadie said:
Ha you beat me to it Bernard! I've always found it weird that adults drink and like milk. That said it's hard to look down on anyone when you drink as much half and half and eat as much cheese as I do. I mean I could live without it but life wouldn't be as fun.

I took a tour of one of the largest dairy farms around here, modern and fancy but wow it was a lot. Plus the keeping the cows pregnant perpetually to keep the milk flowing. I'll stop but the modern way might not always be best.
Click to expand...

Tell ya what, y'all just bottled water, sports drinks or drink soda pop instead. Cuz that's what we're doing, as a society. :rolleyes: BTW, I raise beef cattle. In natural breeding scenarios without human planning (which some smaller farms use), the bull keeps the cows almost perpetually pregnant anyway. There is about two months time after a calf is born when she is not pregnant.
 
BernardSmith said:
Humans are the only mammals that drink milk after they have weaned and we are able to digest milk only because we have acquired a genetic defect that allows for this bizarre phenomenon and in our evolutionary history that "defect" may have had a real benefit when other sources of fats and sugars may have been beyond scarce. For healthy humans who do have good access to fats and sugars, milk should perhaps be considered a luxury food that is full of empty calories and the only reason to drink it is because you like it. It really has absolutely no health value - zero - for anyone, older than about 2, who has access to a range of foods. Even the fact that it is a good source of calcium has no proven benefit to anyone in terms of their bone health. Statistically, those who drink milk are not less likely to suffer from low bone density or broken bones when they fall.
In fact, the one group of people who do not have this deficiency are those we call lactose intolerant. Ironic , ain't it. Those who don't have the defect we view as "sick" and those who do, we view as "normal"... Could be an episode right out of Twilight Zone. You know, the one where the beautiful woman was hospitalized to treat her ugliness, while all the doctors and nurses looked like swine (and I write all this as a cheese maker who very rarely considers drinking milk)
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Who says the fact that humans can digest milk is a "defect" and not simply a characteristic like an opposable thumb?
 
Except that today unlike say during the ice ages, there is no evolutionary advantage to being able to digest milk post weaning and in fact the evidence suggests that the consumption of milk as promoted by the govt and various dairy lobbies appears to be a health hazard (though because of such lobbies , presumably, we don't really talk about milk in that way..). However,
Opposable thumbs are - I would argue - clearly self evidently advantageous from an evolutionary perspective... You cannot make nearly as many tools with pincers or claws as you can when you have an opposable thumb... Though , given our propensity to make such tools that threaten human life on this planet , that too may be a genetic disadvantage given our current environment...
 
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Technically, (and I say this with some trepidation in a community of wine makers) the only liquid humans NEED to consume is water. Wine we drink for pleasure ... but bottled sugar water (fruit juice????, soda????, sports drinks???? ) You gotta thank Madison Ave for that. Sure infants love the sweet (and the salty). Me? I drink my coffee black and unsweetened. I am sweet enough. :i
 
BernardSmith said:
Technically, (and I say this with some trepidation in a community of wine makers) the only liquid humans NEED to consume is water. Wine we drink for pleasure ... but bottled sugar water (fruit juice????, soda????, sports drinks???? ) You gotta thank Madison Ave for that. Sure infants love the sweet (and the salty). Me? I drink my coffee black and unsweetened. I am sweet enough. :i
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The processed foods many or most people consume today are actually predigested, engineered foods and drinks with flavors tweaked to cause a desire to consume more of the product. That's the food industry making itself more money by creating a form of temporary addiction.

Alcohol consumption carries a whole list of known possible negative consequences, while conferring a smaller list of possible benefits if overall consumption is light. (The link does work.)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.1365-2796.2009.02082.x
But it's MILK that's bad for ya, right? šŸ¤£
 
BernardSmith said:
Except that today unlike say during the ice ages, there is no evolutionary advantage to being able to digest milk post weaning and in fact the evidence suggests that the consumption of milk as promoted by the govt and various dairy lobbies appears to be a health hazard (though because of such lobbies , presumably, we don't really talk about milk in that way..). However,
Opposable thumbs are - I would argue - clearly self evidently advantageous from an evolutionary perspective... You cannot make nearly as many tools with pincers or claws as you can when you have an opposable thumb... Though , given our propensity to make such tools that threaten human life on this planet , that too may be a genetic disadvantage given our current environment...
Click to expand...
That opposable thumb comes in handy for holding my big glass of milk. šŸ„›
 

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