Lactose (a sugar): Difference between revisions

Lactose is one of the main sources of energy (calories) in human breast milk and milk from other animals. As hunter-gatherers, adult humans had no significant source of lactose in their diet, and no need for the ability to digest it. This has changed in societies that include dairy as significant part of their diet. Some adults produce sufficient quantities of the enzyme [[User:Karsten_Theis/Lactase_%28a_protein%29|lactase]], enabling them to digest substantial amounts of lactose in their diets by hydrolyzing it, while others don't.