The Evolution of Consuming Milk
Worldwide, there are about 6,000 mammal species, each with its own unique milk, but the world gets at least 97 percent of all our dairy products from one or two animals. That would be the cow and majorly.
The three dairy animals familiar to Westerners were domesticated between 10,000 B.C. and 8000 B.C. Goats and sheep were probably first, followed by cows. All three have since been bred to improve temperament and output, but cows have responded the most profoundly.
Unpalatable fat and protein levels keep some milks off the shelves, but the difficulty of milking recalcitrant beasts can be no less an obstacle.
For example, Camel’s milk, which is sometimes the only source of water in the arid climates of the Middle East and parts of Africa, isn’t much easier to obtain. A typical camel produces around two gallons of milk a day in two 90-second long bursts. And once you’ve got the milk, you can’t do much with it other than drink it. The low-solid content of camel’s milk means it cannot be processed into butter or cheese without high-tech intervention.
The Smithsonian’s magazine recently shared a study of Neolithic farmers’ teeth that reveals humans have been drinking milk for at least 6,000 years. This era saw the rise of farming in what is now England.
How we have evolved to digest cow and buffalo milk?
Lactose sugar is found in dairy products. When the lactose sugar enters the body, the lactase enzyme breaks the sugar down so it is easily digestible. Many people with lactose intolerance can tolerate more lactose products if dairy is slowly introduced to the diet, but this went further. Eventually, farming communities developed a genetic mutation that allowed lactase to break down lactose sugars past infancy, meaning more reliance on dairy consumption was possible for farming groups.
Yet this ability took thousands of years to develop. To enjoy cow’s milk—seen as the preferred milk amongst those groups studied—farmers processed their milk before consumption. It is believed that milk was turned into cheese, fermented foods, and yogurts, which have less lactose than milk. If these people lived today, they could enjoy foods with most or all lactose conveniently removed, but they had to get creative.
The rise of dairy consumption began with the domestication of livestock. Pastoral farming created a more stable food supply than hunting (and the constant moving of following your food source). With a readily available ingredient like milk, these farmers learned of its nutrition and versatility in their diet. Milk was too good to pass up despite its gastrointestinal discomforts, so ancient dairy farmers invented lactose-friendly creations until biology began to catch up.
