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Lactose intolerance is actually the human norm – but racism, the US government and business interests have made it into a condition
Researchers and dairy producers helped frame lactose digestion as abnormal, even though nearly two-thirds of people worldwide are lactose intolerant, the article says.
- In the 1960s, American dairy producers and scientists framed lactose intolerance as an "inborn error of metabolism" to address postwar milk surpluses, though experts later recognized it as a normal physiological state.
- During the 20th century, nutritional imperialism promoted milk-rich, Western diets as superior; in 1959, Japan's nutrition bureau declared "rice-eating peoples" were "resigned and passive."
- A 1966 study in Baltimore mislabeled digestive differences in Black prisoners as genetic mutations; by 1981, a National Institutes of Health official clarified that lactose intolerance is "a normal physiological condition."
- White supremacists have embraced lactose tolerance as a "distinguishing debility" of nonwhite people, using maps from the journal Nature to reinforce racial hierarchies on social media.
- The Chinese Nutrition Society featured milk in its 2022 Food Guide Plate, ignoring evidence that the vast majority of Han Chinese are lactose intolerant and perpetuating Western dietary norms.
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goSkagitLactose intolerance is actually the human norm – but racism, the US government and business interests have made it into a condition
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·Cherokee County, United States
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Lactose intolerance is actually the human norm – but racism, the US government and business interests have made it into a condition
The majority of the world is unable to process the lactose in milk without uncomfortable symptoms Olga Miltsova/iStock via Getty Images PlusLactose intolerance makes drinking milk or eating ice cream a literal pain. For some people, eating a dairy treat can lead to bloating, nausea and diarrhea. You might’ve experienced its effects yourself. If so, you may think of lactose intolerance as a defect rather than the norm. But did you know that most …
·Boston, United States
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Total News Sources41
Leaning Left6Leaning Right9Center24Last UpdatedBias Distribution62% Center
Bias Distribution
- 62% of the sources are Center
62% Center
15%
C 62%
R 23%
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