How humans’ ability to digest milk evolved from famine and disease

The dawn of dairy farming in Europe occurred thousands of years before most people evolved the ability to drink milk as adults without becoming ill.

But Richard Evershed, a biogeochemist at the University of Bristol, UK, who co-led the latest study, and his team have found milk-fat residues on ancient potsherds dating from the dawn of animal domestication. Ancient genomics studies, meanwhile, showed that these early animal farmers were lactose intolerant, and that tolerance for milk did not become common in Europe until after the Bronze Age, 5,000–4,000 years ago.

The team found little overlap between leaps in lactose tolerance and heightened milk consumption, inferred by the presence of milk-fat residues from some 13,000 potsherds from more than 550 archaeological sites across Europe. “All previous hypotheses for what was the natural-selection advantage of lactase persistence pegged themselves to the extent of milk use,” says Thomas, because of the presumed nutritional benefits of being able to consume milk without getting sick.

But the researchers propose that the consequences of milk drinking among lactose-intolerant people long ago would have been much more severe for those who were in ill health, as a result of famine or infection. Fluid loss, through diarrhoea, contributes to deaths through malnutrition and infection, especially in places with poor sanitation.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

How humans’ ability to digest milk evolved from famine and diseaseLandmark study is the first major effort to quantify how lactose tolerance developed. How attractive is 'Johhny Farty Pants'? In TV world Leonard gets his woman, but in the prehistoric world is it the same?
Source: Nature - 🏆 64. / 68 Read more »

Famine and disease may have driven ancient Europeans’ lactose toleranceDealing with food shortages and infections over thousands of years, not widespread milk consumption, may be how an ability to digest dairy evolved. You seem to be on a theme lately I grew up in the perija mountains in an Italian-venezuelan family. Montain Aboriginal they can't even smell row milk, their sistem won't process it.
Source: ScienceNews - 🏆 286. / 63 Read more »

The mystery of early milk consumption in EuropeNew ways to explain the rise in genetic changes needed to digest milk. o.o Behind a paywall. No one is interested Nature. 🙄 why post an article behind a paywall on a public forum? What a waste of time.
Source: Nature - 🏆 64. / 68 Read more »

San Antonio entrepreneur opens ‘biohacking’ center on North SideThat’s how owner Jeremy Jacob describes Evolve Human Optimization Labs, a wellness...
Source: ExpressNews - 🏆 519. / 51 Read more »

Ancient Europeans farmed dairy—but couldn’t digest milkA new study combines large archaeological data sets on dairy farming with ancient DNA and finds that across Europe, people consumed dairy for millennia before lactase persistence into adulthood was widespread. ScienceMagazine U don’t wanna sleep in a tent with 10 men and women all lactose intolerant while consuming damn much dairy ahahha scary_biscuits new “selection for lactase persistence” research just dropped. Because humans are not cows. It’s for the calves jeez 🫣
Source: NewsfromScience - 🏆 515. / 51 Read more »