Homo sapiens is characterized by an impressive adaptibility with regard to
diet.  We belong to the omnivores.  Some of us tolerate animal milks and
foods made from them, throughout our lives after weaning.  Some of us don't.
When considering the entire human population, most of us fall into the
latter group.

To help women breastfeed, I don't need to know much about factors affecting
lactose tolerance after weaning.

In discussing weaning, I do need to know, if I am to be able to give the
mother info on which to base HER decisions about timing and about
replacement foods as her child branches out in the culinary world.  This is
particularly true if I am working in a culture where commonly available and
widely promoted foods may be inappropriate for many of the people I am
counseling.

I don't make all my choices about my own diet based on health or disease
risk, but I appreciate having the info to do so.  As with any information, I
also appreciate knowing what other interests may have affected the research
or opinion being expounded.

David Barker (the Barker hypothesis man) said to me several years ago during
an interview that 'Evolution is completely indifferent to anything affecting
death or disease risk after the age of reproduction.'  Think about that,
while I take a potato chip break.
Rachel Myr in Kristiansand, Norway, a country where cows' milk is nearly a
sacred food, and we are among the leaders in incidence of osteoporosis

P.S. Nutritional information printed on milk cartons has nearly the same
status as though it were carried from a mountaintop chiseled into stone
tablets.  This could be an interesting topic for a research study.  Is there
something about a milk carton which stuns the skepticism center in the
brain?  Do the TetraPak people know this?

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