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Dr. Jack Soltanoff's Pages
Human Vs. Cow's Milk
Environmental and genetic factors are involved in milk intolerance. Only 20 percent of Caucasians from Western Europe show lactose intolerance; but the figure is 75 to 80 percent for Greek Cypriots, Arabs, Jews, American Negroes, African Bantus, Thais, Formosans and Filipinos
Anthropologists believe that this intolerance is the result of dietary patterns established by early ancestors. For example, milk consumption has been minimal for centuries in Central West Africa, the place of origin for most American Blacks, 75 percent of whom are estimated to be lactose intolerant.
It is believed that a lack of dairy foods in the diet may have resulted in an adaptive decreased activity of the lactase enzymes in these ethnic groups, most of whom have been found to have limited ability to tolerate lactose.
This lactose intolerance helps explain the digestive difficulties of so many infants and children which is then doubly compounded by the pasteurization process. This may then account for their instinctive refusal to drink pasteurized milk.
Milk products which are cultivated by lactic acid, such as buttermilk, cheese and yogurt, are low in lactose and can be digested with little or no difficulty by those individuals who cannot handle ordinary milk.
Anyone who feels digestive discomfort or nasal congestion after drinking milk should be aware of a lactose intolerance problem.
The extent of their lactose intolerance can be determined by means of a lactose tolerance test or via a short series of specific nutritional questions by a physician or nutritionist.
New mothers should always bear in mind that the milk of each species is perfectly adapted to the needs of its own young and not to the needs of any other species.
The milk of another species of animal is not only not adapted to the needs of the human infant but is often actually harmful.
The nutritional needs of the young of various animals vary greatly as their rates of growth vary; not only "in composition but in the correlation of different food factors required for various stages of growth.
All of this means that every species of mammal has its own very special milk. Cow's milk is specially adapted to meet the special needs of the growing calf; the milk of the goat to the peculiar needs of the kid, etc.
The milk of a human mother is a special liquid to meet the special growth and nutritive requirements of the human infant. Under normal conditions, with a reasonably healthy mother, milk will be secreted in sufficient quantity and quality for a sufficient period of time to supply the entire milk requirements of the infant.
The secretion of the breasts during the first few days after birth is somewhat different from ordinary milk and is called colostrum. It is scanty in amount, thicker than milk, a deep yellow color and differs greatly in chemical composition than that of later milk. It is believed to have a laxative effect on the infant.
Colostrum gradually changes into true milk which is thinner and bluer and usually starts to flow after the third day of birth and should be well established by the second or third week. As the child grows, secretion of milk increases in response to the vigor, strength and persistence of the infant's demand.
The makers of milk formulas cannot remotely approach the various subtle adjustments that take place in mothers' milk not only as to composition which changes as the weeks pass to meet the nutritive needs of the growing baby but also the volume of milk production which varies with the changing needs of the baby.
At one week the baby may consume about 15 ounces of milk in 24 hours; three weeks later it may take twice this amount and attains its peak between the 25th and 30th week.
It is possible that a deficiency of calcium is more likely to occur during this period than that of any other vitamin or mineral. For this reason it is important for the mother to eat liberally of the fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds that are high in calcium (figs corn, sesame seeds, all green vegetables, etc.).
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