this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023
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me_irl
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Lactose intolerance is the norm for humans. Somehow this doesn't get communicated since practically no one knows it. Up until somewhat recently all humans were lactose intolerant. Iirc tolerance started with starving Europeans making full use of cows a few thousand years ago, then over time people became able to tolerate it.
Source: https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/lactose-intolerance/definition-facts
All that to say yeah, it's a very common condition and most people who have it probably still eat lactose as it's not all that bad to get the shits. Come on, it's cheese and ice cream we're talking about here. And pizza. Even if the consequences were awful, humans are also pretty good at ignoring consequences when deciding if they want something they really like
But how are those percentages distributed globally? If the 32% mostly resides within middle/west europe and american continents with a minority in Asia it totally makes sense why we have that understanding in the west.
Not everyone in the West is fully European, but even if they were, a significant portion of even those people are lactose intolerant. I mentioned the global stat 1) because it was available 2) to illustrate the point that just because we evolved something recently doesn't make it the standard way for a person to be.
I understood that.
But if you have the majority of the minority in one place the perspective is skewed towards thinking the minority is actually in the majority even if it isnt.
The vast majority of humans are lactose intolerant. I sort of get your point but mine still stands. Especially considering in America the percentage is 36% even though we are by majority white still
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/lactose-intolerance-by-country
Sort that data and you'll see a lot of countries even higher.
I think the real reason this issue is not known about is because it involves poop and that's a taboo topic that embarrasses people.
Growing up, and still today, if I just went by popular discourse, it would seem to be less than 10%
Lactase persistence has actually evolved around a dozen times independently. Most of the genes originated in Africa, but the one Europeans have evolved in the Indus valley area before the Indo-aryan people migrated to Europe.