Are most asians lactose intolerant? Is this why there is no dairy in chinese food?

9 responses so far ↓

• 1 lulu j // Jul 15, 2008

  i believe so also indians too..

• 2 joe the man // Jul 15, 2008

  it's because milk is BAD for you whatever type of human you are… especially cow milk.

• 3 Teaholic // Jul 15, 2008

  Asians are smart and know that dairy is disgusting food. We are not cows and do not require Cow's milk. Chinese food is the last stronghold for us Cheese and dairy haters. They do have crab rangoon with cheese in it though

• 4 Blazin22 // Jul 15, 2008

  I know that a lot of Africans are lactose intolerant…
  thats why you will hardly ever meet a black person, that is a "cheese-fiend" (thats my word for cheese lovers)

• 5 tatiana m // Jul 15, 2008

  It depends on what type of milk, of course dairy is not good, some are good for you though. I would say yes and no it depends on the person.

• 6 Xavier // Jul 15, 2008

  yeah- black, thai and chinese people are often lactose intolerant because they lack the enzyme lactase which breaks it down.

  it makes more sense if you think that this is a result of the lack of dairy milk in the diet, not that they avoid milk because they are lactose intolerant

• 7 Nemo Credete // Jul 15, 2008

  why does everyone hate dairy? since when is milk bad for you? i have 10 pints of it a week. but i dont like cheese :/
  please let me know if im damaging my health. coz milk is all i drink. and fuk loads too

• 8 pspoptart // Jul 15, 2008

  What you eat down at the Chinese buffet is not Chinese food. It's a bastardized form of Chinese food because when they immigrated here people found realy Chinese food too disgusting or wierd to eat.

  There isn't a ton of milk but it's there. The reason why there isn't a ton is because if you've ever owned a cow you know they are expensive to feed and don't tolerate extreme cold or heat very well. Therefore they aren't suited to the economic status or climate of ancient China.

  Milk doesn't stand up well without refrigeration of some sort either. Things with high salt content like soy sauce or things that can be dried and easily grown like chestnuts are better for their lifestyles.

• 9 leslie // Jul 15, 2008

  actually…humans and cats are the only animals (citation needed) that drink milk beyond weening.

  and milk is rather similar among species (though milk from the same species is the BEST for the animal)…hence why sometimes zoos foster abandoned baby animals to, for example, dogs or cat etc.

  milk is an important food substance for babies as it is their means of acquiring energy and antibodies…and so, when young we ALL have lactase. however, as a general "rule" of nature: if you don't use it, you lose it. it is energetically inefficient for bodies to continue to produce lactase if you're not eating dairy products for which lactase would be used to "digest."

  hence…we stop drinking milk, we stop making lactase, we become lactose intolerant; you can "train" your body to become lactose tolerant again by consuming small quantities of milk and over time you can become lactose tolerant again.

  i could go into more detail…but i'm being lazy.
  (aside, about africans being lactose intolerant…note there are tribes in africa whose diets pretty much rely exclusively on cattle…from meat to milk.)