Ancient Europeans Ate Dairy for 5,000 Years to Beat Lactose Intolerance, And we thank them every day. #PraiseBeToCheese
According to scientists, as humans grew from a hunter/gatherer mentality to an agricultural society, their genes also evolved, corresponding with their new diet. Experts had formerly believed humans adapted to lactose when cheese-making appeared about 7,000 years ago. A study of 13 ancient Europeans found in the Great Hungarian Planes dating from 5,700 BC to 800 BC found that the genetic variation appeared recently, about 3,000 years ago.
Ancient Europeans' bodies weren't prepared to digest dairy. So, they decided beat lactose intolerance by eating as much milk and cheese as they could.
Sharp or mild. Hard or soft. In its wide array of shapes, sizes and flavors, it’s no wonder cheese is so beloved; there’s a cheese out there for everyone. As delicious as it tastes, it’s not exactly news that dairy can take a toll on the more sensitive stomachs out there. And this war against unsettling lactose-intolerance symptoms has been wages for quite some time, and a recent study of ancient Europeans illuminates a curious relentless to overcome lactose intolerance.
According to scientists, as humans grew from a hunter/gatherer mentality to an agricultural society, their genes also evolved, corresponding with their new diet. Experts had formerly believed humans adapted to lactose when cheese-making appeared about 7,000 years ago. A study of 13 ancient Europeans found in the Great Hungarian Planes dating from 5,700 BC to 800 BC found that the genetic variation appeared recently, about 3,000 years ago.
Though we’ve known some ancient Europeans, like Ötzi, were lactose intolerant, this is the first time researchers have been able to study it within a larger time scale. Scientists gathered a significant amount of DNA from these skeletons’ inner ear to test for genetic variation, extracting up to 90 percent DNA in comparison to the sometimes one to 20 percent found in teeth, fingers and rib bones. The results showed plainly that ancient Europeans did not have the ability to digest lactose. “This means that these ancient Europeans would have had domesticated animals like cows, goats and sheep, but they would not yet have genetically developed a tolerance for drinking large quantities of milk from mammals,” said Ron Pinhasi who helped lead the study.
So even though these Europeans weren’t able to digest the lactose well, they still ate it (kinda like a lot of us do today…). And it was because they ate a lot of dairy that (some) of their descendants were eventually able to digest lactose properly. According to the study, a diet revolving around raw milk led to “lactase persistence allele selection in Europeans,” AKA new technology actually influenced the human genome, making tolerance to lactose more prevalent among the people eating dairy day in and day out.
So once again it’s time to thank our ancestors for their hard work for making our lives easier. Fire, the wheel, agriculture, that’s all you need! Well, a little brie is also pretty indispensable to a good life. |
