Why milk becomes nectar for children but ‘poison’ for adults, know what is its DNA connection?

You must have often noticed that adults who have stomach problems, such as bloating, in such situations, doctors have always forbidden people from drinking milk or taking milk tea. Have you ever wondered what is the reason for this? Let us understand here.

About 75% of the world’s adult population has difficulty in drinking much milk, whereas in childhood most of the people used to drink milk easily. Why does this happen? The answer is lactose intolerance.

In fact, almost everyone has the ability to drink milk during childhood, because the body makes a special enzyme, lactase. This enzyme breaks down the sugar called lactose present in milk and converts it into useful energy for our body. This is the reason why children can easily get nutrition by drinking milk.

But with time, this ability starts decreasing in most people. Some people cannot drink milk at the age of 3 years, some after the age of 20 and some for a very long time, while some people never lose this ability.

People who have this lactase gene active in childhood can drink milk like children, but as age increases, this ability gradually decreases. A special DNA mutation has been found in the body of people who can drink milk even after growing up.

Scientists have named it Lactase Persistence. This means that lactase keeps getting produced in their body and lactose is easier to digest. Scientists say that this is a natural evolutionary process.

More mutations of this gene were found in people who consumed more dairy products, whereas in people who did not have the habit of drinking milk, most people were not able to digest milk after reaching adulthood.