Debi, you wrote asking how a mom could take brmilk but not cow's milk? There is such media hype over lactose intolerance, everyone seems to envision themselves with this problem. People who were raised on formula are often sensitive the cow's milk protein and that is why wh.cow's milk causes GI distress. The other thing which can and does occur is that after years of not drinking milk a woman will begin to do so out of fear of osteoporosis or because she is preg/BF and, because there has been no call for her body to produce lactase, the enzyme manufactured in the body to digest lactose, her body no longer produces this enzyme. Now she is lactose intolerant, but she was not as a baby or child. God put lactose in human milk for good reasons (one is that it is a primary brain food), and consequently, God gave us lactase in sufficient quantities to digest our own mother's milk. My nutrition thoughts.... Michelle Scott, RD,IBCLC in NH Debi wrote: Well here's one I haven't heard before..... As I was addressing a nursing mothers' meeting, one mom was shocked to learn that human milk has lactose in it. Why the shock? Because she claims to be so lactose intolerant that she becomes uncomfortable even when a smidge of lactose is added to non-dairy foods, yet she drinks her own milk without a problem. She assumed that because she can drink her milk, it must be lactose free, which, of course, it is not. So now she wants to know why she can drink it. Is there lactase in mother's milk? Some other factor which would help her to break it down? She *really* wants to know and has called me to see if I've found out yet..... Any ideas? THANKS!!! -Debi Page Ferrarello, RN, IBCLC Abington, PA