How do babies not die...?

Question

If they are lactose intolerant?

I asked this question earlier and someone gave me this: (probably bs)

We're all lactose tolerant at birth. Most animals stop metabolizing lactose as they are weaned, and no longer consume milk. Lifelong lactose tolerance is a mutation that probably started becoming widespread with the advent of cattle raising. Lactose intolerant people are the ones that don't have it.

I doubt thats true....is it?

Answer 1

I don't know if that's true or not. I think that's why they make soy formula, for babies who are lactose intolerant. I know my uncle was lactose intolerant, he couldn't drink milk based formula as a baby and he couldn't be breast fed, although I'm not sure exactly what they did feed him.

Answer 2

Yes, that is true, depending on the kind of "lactose" you mean.
No baby would be lactose intolerant if given it's mother's milk.
A baby may be intolerant of cow's milk.
Africans and some Asians are more likely to lactose intolerant (cow's milk.)
Europeans are generally the ones who can best tolerate cow's milk.

Answer 3

Your statement is largely true. Two things to remember:1) human milk contains lactose. 2) Although lactose intolerance is real, it is also overdiagnosed, especially in infancy. Most colic is not from lactose intolerance. Not all indigestion, diarrhea, gas, etc after milk intake is due to lactose intolerance. Improvement after a change to a lactose-free formula is not conclusive proof of lactose intolerance.

Much of lactose intolerance is genetically inherited, and the gene is most common among people whose ancestry is from sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean basin. For some reason, infants are usually able to digest lactose up to a certain age. Indeed, babies of African lineage do much better on breast milk than they do on formula, largely for reasons independent of lactose issues.

Answer 4

Everyone can drink breast milk, but people who are lactose intolerant can't drink any milk made by other species (aka cows and goats milk). The persn who gave you the answer earlier was right about where the gene for lactose tolerancy came from.

Answer 5

I'm sure that doctors have special fluids and such for lactose intolerant babies. They must fill it with all the same nutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc.; it just want be a derivative of milk. Like soy milk, except I doubt they'll feed a baby that. They definitely have something out there on the market.

Answer 6

That guy told you the truth, plus, yeah, human milk is lactose-free anyways. It's just the cows that have it. That's why lactose intolerant people that decide they want milk, usually get it from goats.

Answer 7

I dont know about increasing mutaition but the rest it true everyone is lactose tolerent at birth

Answer 8

Yes, it is actually true.

"Lactose intolerance is normal in all adult mammals, including human beings. However, a few ethnic groups—particularly certain European groups—continue to produce lactase throughout their lives, and in these populations lactose intolerance is usually treated as a medical disorder."

I know it's just Wikipedia, but yes, it's true, I learned it in biology class too.

Answer 9

There are formulas that can be given to babies that are lactose intolerant. Such as a product like this :Enfamil Nutramigen Style Powder
Lactose-free and sucrose-free, Nutramigen is a hypoallergenic...

Answer 10

I have no idea if the above info is true or not but it sounds like he knows what he is talking about. I do know that milk is bad for cats, not kittens, cats. I guess if one is intolerant, it doesn 't mean you will die from something, just that it might make you sick or uncomfortable. Then there are people who give their babies soy milk instead of regular milk. My first daughter drank that stuff though it didn't taste good to me.