Cats and Milk

John F. Eldredge wrote:
On Sun, 7 Jan 2007 14:20:41 -0800, Katrina wrote:


http://www.gnxp.com/MT2/archives/001681.html

According to the statistics, 86% of Northern Europeans are lactose
*tolerant*, but only 36% of Southern Europeans are. 98% of Southeast
Asians are intolerant (note that milk and milk products are not
generally part of Asian cooking), so only 2% of Southeast Asians can
tolerate milk... but that 2% could certainly enjoy a "nice, cold glass
of milk" even when 98% of their relatives can't. If you go on down the
list, you'll see that lactose tolerance is highest among Northern
Europeans. Unless you want to argue that the entire world is made up
of Northern Europeans, it's clear that most humans are lactose
intolerant.

I'm guessing that you and John are from Northern European background,
but even if not, all populations have some individuals who tolerate
milk. If you ARE of Northern European stock, you fall into one of the
populations which are more likely than not to be lactose tolerant. Most
Americans (and the dominant *American* culture) is founded in that
Northern European gene pool. This is also why the Dairy industry is so
strong here- it's part of the cultural baggage brought over by British,
Scandanavian and Germanic settlers. The problem is that giving milk as
part of a subsidized meal to inner city children (who are more likely
to NOT tolerate it because of differing genetic backgrounds) is
actually making those kids sick.

I suspect that the "Indians" referred to in the web site are American
Indians, rather than people from India, judging by the number of
Indian and Pakistani recipes that use dairy products. Many Hindus
don't eat any form of meat, but do eat dairy products, so it serves as
a useful protein source.

I have an African-American co-worker who gets a digestive upset even
from dairy products that have been cultured to break down the lactose.
The symptoms she has mentioned sound like they are from a reaction to
the remaining lactose, not an allergy to other components of the milk.
So, she sticks to soy-based milk substitutes.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria


She may have an allergy to diary protein, as do I. I cannot drink milk at all.

Randy

http://picasaweb.google.com/crmartin1

http://kittenwar.com/kittens/74045/

"Winnie" wrote in message
ups.com...

Jo Firey wrote:
One of the things we were told to expect when we adopted a child from
Korea
thirty years ago was an aversion to milk. Tara disliked milk as a child
and
still avoids dairy products for the most part.

It does make getting enough calcium interesting with a western diet,
especially when you are dealing with a child that is already severely
malnourished.

I am lactose intolerant. On the suggestion of a dietician, I now drink
fortified soy milk instead of
milk. I checked the nutrition labels, they are similar. Soy is a food
stable in Asia. You can feed
your child fortified soy milk if you are concerned about her getting
enough calcium.

Another alternative is to put lactase enzyme drops in milk before
drinking it. But you have to wait
24 hrs for the enzyme to break down the lactose and the milk tastes
sweeter than untreated
milk. Of course you can buy lactose free milk. But I found it cheaper
to add the lactase. There are also lactase pills that you take before
drinking milk.

It is so much easier for me to just drink fortified soy milk now. I use
it on cereal too.

Winnie



I for one am very glad that things like orange juice now can be purchased
with added calcium.

Jo

Both my children were allergic to milk as babies - they had to drink soy
milk - but they could both drink milk as children and into adulthood. I
don't know if they just became tolerant from exposure or if their allergies
actually went away (I know you can develop allergies with age that you
didn't have as a child, but don't know that the reverse is true).

Hugs,

CatNipped

"Jo Firey" wrote in message
et...

"Matthew" wrote in message
...

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Matthew wrote:
I can't have a bowl of cereal or my nightly milk and cookies unless
rumble shares. Some the others tend to ignore it unless I rub some
on their lips Ka' Shay is hit or miss.

But I do remember the barn cats coming in every time we milked the
goats or the cows for their fair share. When we churned butter we
had a audience at all times

Butter is best! LOL

Jill

No real churned butter is the best none of this crap in it like today's
choices have


LOL. Kids now don't even know that butter used to be yellow. Really
yellow. So were egg yolks. Egg yolks now are so pale you can't even make
yellow and while scrambled eggs by not over stirring them anymore.

Jo

LOL! Remember the pint-sized glass milk bottles (ice cold) at school
cafeterias that had an inch of cream at the top??! *YUM* - had to shake it
up before drinking because "homogenized" wasn't invented yet! My
grandmother ate stuff like that all her life and lived to be 104 (and walked
5 miles a day up until a month before she died).

Hugs,

CatNipped

CatNipped wrote:
"Jo Firey" wrote in message
et...

"Matthew" wrote in message
...

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Matthew wrote:
I can't have a bowl of cereal or my nightly milk and cookies unless
rumble shares. Some the others tend to ignore it unless I rub some
on their lips Ka' Shay is hit or miss.

But I do remember the barn cats coming in every time we milked the
goats or the cows for their fair share. When we churned butter we
had a audience at all times

Butter is best! LOL

Jill

No real churned butter is the best none of this crap in it like today's
choices have


LOL. Kids now don't even know that butter used to be yellow. Really
yellow. So were egg yolks. Egg yolks now are so pale you can't even make
yellow and while scrambled eggs by not over stirring them anymore.

Jo

LOL! Remember the pint-sized glass milk bottles (ice cold) at school
cafeterias that had an inch of cream at the top??! *YUM* - had to shake it
up before drinking because "homogenized" wasn't invented yet! My
grandmother ate stuff like that all her life and lived to be 104 (and walked
5 miles a day up until a month before she died).

Hugs,

CatNipped

Heh. I remember that, not from the cafeteria, but at home. My poor mom
used to have to skim every minscule drop of it off the top of mine. It
made horrid white clumps when you tried to mix in the Ovaltine and it
just gagged me. :-)
But seriously. All this talk about good vs. bad foods---maybe it *is*
only anecdotal evidence,but it would seem there are many, many more
factors that come into play general health than "milk" "yeast"
"sugar" or whatever the trendy bad-food at the moment is. DH's parents
are like your grandma. They are in their 90's and in remarkably good
health. Their diet, by the standards we're talking about in this
thread, is absolutely horrid. They drink buttermilk or milk every day,
eat a whole lot of eggs, bacon fat, all that stuff. More and more, I
think staying active and exercise is about as important as anything
else. (and as I'm typing this, I keep thinking of more and more
wonderfully active elderly people I know. The common denominator I'm
coming up with is that they're all farm couples who have just plain
worked hard all their lives)
The problem with the "information age" is that there's just way too
much information. . I bet if I looked hard enough, I could find an
anti-cornbread site. :-)

Sherry

wrote in message
oups.com...

CatNipped wrote:
"Jo Firey" wrote in message
et...

"Matthew" wrote in message
...

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Matthew wrote:
I can't have a bowl of cereal or my nightly milk and cookies unless
rumble shares. Some the others tend to ignore it unless I rub some
on their lips Ka' Shay is hit or miss.

But I do remember the barn cats coming in every time we milked the
goats or the cows for their fair share. When we churned butter we
had a audience at all times

Butter is best! LOL

Jill

No real churned butter is the best none of this crap in it like
today's
choices have


LOL. Kids now don't even know that butter used to be yellow. Really
yellow. So were egg yolks. Egg yolks now are so pale you can't even
make
yellow and while scrambled eggs by not over stirring them anymore.

Jo

LOL! Remember the pint-sized glass milk bottles (ice cold) at school
cafeterias that had an inch of cream at the top??! *YUM* - had to shake
it
up before drinking because "homogenized" wasn't invented yet! My
grandmother ate stuff like that all her life and lived to be 104 (and
walked
5 miles a day up until a month before she died).

Hugs,

CatNipped

Heh. I remember that, not from the cafeteria, but at home. My poor mom
used to have to skim every minscule drop of it off the top of mine. It
made horrid white clumps when you tried to mix in the Ovaltine and it
just gagged me. :-)
But seriously. All this talk about good vs. bad foods---maybe it *is*
only anecdotal evidence,but it would seem there are many, many more
factors that come into play general health than "milk" "yeast"
"sugar" or whatever the trendy bad-food at the moment is. DH's parents
are like your grandma. They are in their 90's and in remarkably good
health. Their diet, by the standards we're talking about in this
thread, is absolutely horrid. They drink buttermilk or milk every day,
eat a whole lot of eggs, bacon fat, all that stuff. More and more, I
think staying active and exercise is about as important as anything
else. (and as I'm typing this, I keep thinking of more and more
wonderfully active elderly people I know. The common denominator I'm
coming up with is that they're all farm couples who have just plain
worked hard all their lives)
The problem with the "information age" is that there's just way too
much information. . I bet if I looked hard enough, I could find an
anti-cornbread site. :-)

Sherry

No don't say that a anti corn bread site I am in tears

I will say this once I moved off the farm I did gain weight. Now that I
live off the farm I used to have to watch what I ate. Now I just live and
eat healthy

"jmcquown" wrote

By the way, I don't eat sugar. I don't drink soft drinks and only use
flour
as necessary for baking. Yes, I eat baked yeast bread. And you wonder
why
I didn't want to meet you when you came to Memphis. Mizz picky picky
picky.
Cant't/won't eat anything but at a Vietnamese place in midtown. Excuse me
but the Viet's SHOT my father a few times, so sorry I don't want to eat
their food.

Oh, thanks for the information. I was curious. I never did buy the story you
gave me at the time, about being afraid to drive. Good to know that it
wasn't merely hatred of me that kept you from meeting for lunch. Hatred of
an entire nation is so much more plausible. I guess you came to love
Vietnamese food (as you stated you did at the time) *before* they shot at
your dad. Too bad you have to miss out on it now, then. The Japanese shot at
my dad, but I can't quite bring myself to avoid their cuisine, or their cars
or their electronics. Geez, what the heck is wrong with my moral code??

CatNipped wrote:

Both my children were allergic to milk as babies - they had to drink soy
milk - but they could both drink milk as children and into adulthood. I
don't know if they just became tolerant from exposure or if their allergies
actually went away (I know you can develop allergies with age that you
didn't have as a child, but don't know that the reverse is true).


I think allergies can go away. I was tested postivie for feather
allergy My allergist told me not
to use down duvet when I sleep, but could keep my down coat since it
was only worn outdoors for a short period. I remember my eyes tearing
up when I was near a pack of pigeons. But my last allergy test many
years later was negative for feather.

Milk allergy and lactose intolerance are 2 different things. Milk
allergy is properly with the milk protein, whereas intolerance is to
the milk sugar lactose.

Winnie

Matthew wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...

Matthew wrote:

I can't have a bowl of cereal or my nightly milk and cookies unless
rumble shares. Some the others tend to ignore it unless I rub some
on their lips Ka' Shay is hit or miss.

But I do remember the barn cats coming in every time we milked the
goats or the cows for their fair share. When we churned butter we
had a audience at all times


Butter is best! LOL

Jill


No real churned butter is the best none of this crap in it like today's
choices have

Butter aside, the thing that breaks me up everytime I see it
is "Fat Free Half & Half"!!! (Talk about oxymorons - how
can it be half cream and half milk if it is fat-free?)
Also, if you read the ingredients (which the law requires
them to list) you see sugars and all sorts of non-dairy
additives. "Real" Half & Half shows its ingredients as
"cream and whole milk" (period).

Pat wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote


I do get occasional sinus and ear infections (the two go hand in hand
thanks
to the eustachian tube) but those are bacterial, not viral infections and
cannot be transmitted person to person.


I would offer that your infections are not caused by bacteria or virus, but
rather by your consumption of dairy products - along with other gargage like
refined sugar and flour, which combine with dairy residues to create mucus,
in which those nasty micro-organisms (that get blamed as the "cause" of
infections) are able to thrive.

To which I'd be inclined to reply (if I weren't too polite)
"You're full of s--t!" I never had an ear infection in my
life, and my sinus infections are pretty much a thing of the
past, ever since my blood pressure forced me to abandon
those "decongestant" nasal sprays. As far as ill-effects
from dairy products are concerned, warm milk with a sprinkle
of pepper in it is still my first-choice remedy for an upset
stomach, and nothing sooths a sore throat or helps quiet a
cough like warm milk topped with a pat of melted butter!

Of course my ancestry is Northern European, and someone more
knowledgeable pointed out that we comprise an ethnic group
in whom lactose intolerance is very rare. However, I've had
friends from nearly ALL ethnic groups common to the U.S.,
and have encountered very, very few people who had problems
digesting milk.

The only one I ever knew personally was the daughter of a
friend whose ancestry was Danish (northern European,
right?). Although the father was from the Middle East, I
always thought the child's allergy was more connected to the
fact her mother was an X-Ray technician (back before they
were aware of the danger repeated exposure posed to
reproductive systems, and did not require the kind of
shielding they do now) than to her father's national origin.

The usual response to any suggestion of milk being unhealthful among people
who've been brainwashed by the media (subservient to the interests of the
dairy industry) is "How then will we get enough calcium?"

Excuse me! "Brain-washed"???? You are allergic to milk, or
simply don't like it, fine - that's certainly your
privilege. Denying its proven nutrional value just because
you don't drink it seems a case of "overkill". (It's true
there are many other good sources of calcium, but its
calcium content is not the main reason people consume milk.)

Even vegetarians frequently use milk and eggs, because both
are excellent sources of protein, but no creature dies to
provide either as food. (Lactating cows MUST be milked, and
chickens lay eggs whether they've been fertilized or not, so
no incipient chicks are involved unless you insist upon
"fertile" eggs.)

Pat wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote


Pat wrote:

"jmcquown" wrote


I do get occasional sinus and ear infections (the two go hand in hand
thanks to the eustachian tube) but those are bacterial, not viral
infections and cannot be transmitted person to person.

I would offer that your infections are not caused by bacteria or
virus, but rather by your consumption of dairy products

(snip rant)
Not going to get into a nutritional debate with you, Pat. It's obvious we
don't see eye to eye. I don't walk around nude in my garden, which might
result in some unpleansantness with the neighbors. You're welcome to,
just
not my cuppa tea. Take care of your cats


Of course it stands to reason, now that I am living in town am not free to
be nude in my garden, I will start to suffer from ear and sinus infections!
What precautions shall I take??? Maybe eating bacon will solve the
problem....

Apparently Jill's reluctance to be confrontational does not
apply to you? Did you overlook the smiley, or are you so
firmly seated on your hobby-horse that you don't want to
dismount from it?