Both my children were allergic to milk as babies - they had to drink soy
milk - but they could both drink milk as children and into adulthood.  I
don't know if they just became tolerant from exposure or if their allergies
actually went away (I know you can develop allergies with age that you
didn't have as a child, but don't know that the reverse is true).

Hugs,

CatNipped

That's weird, because I know I read somewhere that Asian ladies are in
the higher-risk category. I always figured it was because they are
small-framed and usually thin, and that's the textbook high-risk build.
Can't remember where I read that though, Dewi.
There's lots of factors though. General poor nutrition makes you a
higher-risk. The risk is much higher in post-menopausal ladies who
don't take hormone replacement. If you smoke, it goes up even more. Now
I hear some not-so-good things about Fosomax. You're damned if you do,
and damned if you don't sometimes. What really stinks is, with bone
loss you get shorter. I can't afford to get any shorter. :-)

Sherry

I have read from various places over the last few years that soy milk is
very good indeed at preventing osteoporosis, or maintaining good bone
density at least - so perhaps the increased role of soy in the Eastern
diet has something to do with that? just a thought..

Deb.

it's not... butter is mostly the fat which remains when most of the
other parts of the milk (including the sugars and proteins) have been
removed. As for the lactose tolerance gene, it's one of the best
documented of all human genetic variations.  A recently released study
actually indicated that the mutation which allows Northern Europeans to
tolerate milk is a slightly *different* mutation than the one which
allows certain African herding groups to tolerate it.  It seems, then,
that this mutation is one that arises spontaneously, but only spreads
and becomes common in groups that utilize milk/milk products. Some
groups ferment or otherwise alter the milk which (depending on which
genetics is involved) can reduce the digestive problems associated with
milk, but consumption of wet milk by adults is still a rare behavior in
humans when we look at the entire human population.

Katrina

It is for me.

Don't the people of Mongolia drink their tea with butter in
it?  (Probably yak butter.)

But unlike Pat, you don't seem to feel that, just because
you do not drink milk, no one else should, either!

If you *wanted* to drink milk or eat other dairy products, you might find
that you are not allergic to the protiens in goat or sheep milk. I *love*
cheeses made from sheep's milk. Mmmmmmmm.

Yowie

Jill has been nothing but snide with me, tossing out ad hominem attacks,
outright lies, straw-man arguments and assorted b.s. in response to every
overture I've ever made in her direction. I'm finished trying to be her
friend, and that is HER LOSS. Now, get off my back, you self-righteous fool.

I haven't done or even looked at any "scientific" data. Maybe you should ask
some of the people mentioned in this article from www.milksucks.com instead
of only looking at studies funded by the dairy industry:

According to a report published by the American Academy of Allergy and
Immunology Committee on Adverse Reactions to Food (part of the National
Institutes of Health), the allergies of up to one third of children tested
cleared after milk was removed from their diet.

Dr. Benjamin Spock, author of the world-famous book Baby and Child Care,
wrote in 1998, "Cow's milk is not recommended for a child when he is sick-or
when he is well, for that matter. Dairy products may cause more mucus
complications and cause more discomfort with upper respiratory infections."

In their book Allergies to Milk, Drs. Sami L. Bahna and Douglas C. Heiner
report that children who are allergic to milk "may have breathing
difficulty, particularly during sleep, or an irritating cough associated
with a postnasal drip. . The cough is frequently associated with noisy
breathing and excessive mucus in the throat, and sometimes parents worry
that their child is 'gagging.' . Such affected children are frequently
diagnosed as having upper respiratory infection, viral illness,
bronchitis, . or pneumonia. Accordingly, they may be given unnecessary
medications, including cough syrups, decongestants, or antibiotics. Relief,
however, is not satisfactory until cow's milk is eliminated from the diet."

A 1997 report on food allergies in the Journal of the American Medical
Association found that cow's milk allergies tend to hit children in their
infancies. Recommended therapies for food allergies include "strict removal
of the offending allergen" or possibly a diet centered on human breast milk.

A British study found that 93 percent of children diagnosed with cow's milk
allergy experienced asthma and/or rhinitis when milk was included in their
diet. (The book Asthma and Rhinitis states that rhinitis is "characterized
by itching, sneezing, nasal blockage, and discharge.")

Frank Oski, M.D., the former director of the Department of Pediatrics of
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and physician-in-chief of the
Johns Hopkins Children's Center, said in his 1992 book, "The fact is: The
drinking of cow milk has been linked to iron-deficiency anemia in infants
and children; it has been named as the cause of cramps and diarrhea in much
of the world's population, and the cause of multiple forms of allergy as
well."

In his book Pregnancy, Children, and the Vegan Diet, Dr. Michael Klaper
explains why milk may trigger the production of mucus: "[W]hen the protein
of another animal is introduced into one's immune system, an allergic/immune
response is created in many places in the body. A common reaction to such an
assault by a foreign protein in our immune system is an outpouring of mucus
from the nasal and throat membranes. . The resulting mucus flow can create
the chronic runny noses, persistent sore throats, hoarseness, bronchitis,
and the recurrent ear infections that plague so many children (and their
parents)."

According to the metastudy Milk Allergies, "Cow's milk allergy, mainly a
disease of infancy, is usually manifested within the first two or three
months of life. . No age, however, is exempt, and milk allergy may be first
detected during adolescence or adulthood."

Dr. Christiane Northrup states: "Dairy is a tremendous mucus producer and a
burden on the respiratory, digestive, and immune systems." Dr. Northrup says
that patients who "eliminate dairy products for an extended period and eat a
balanced diet . suffer less from colds and sinus infections."

The mucus created by milk may cause other health problems, as well. Dr.
William Ellis, who has studied the effects of dairy foods for more than four
decades, says that milk is "simply no good for humans." Dr. Ellis believes
that the excess mucus caused by milk can harden to form a coating on the
inner wall of the intestines, hindering the absorption of nutrients and
possibly leading to chronic fatigue.

According to an article in the June 26, 2003, Calgary Herald, milk is the
most common source of allergies in children. Sharon Tateishi, a Calgary,
Alberta, nutritionist for more than 20 years, comments, "There are so many
articles coming up. You can't ignore the issue any more. If a child has food
sensitivities to milk, the symptoms can include eczema, bloating, runny
nose, chronic ear infections, stomach problems. It could be asthma. Even
things like kidney and bladder problems."

Jil knew next to nothing of me at the time. And I would offer that only one
or two in this group know more than a tiny bit about me, no matter how many
believe otherwise.

Actually, I *am* afraid to drive.  It sometimes takes a lot to get me out of
the house.  I'm not agorophobic but close to it.  But there was just
something hinky about the insistance at a particular type of food and it had
to be in Midtown Memphis.  I suggested all sorts of things but with Pat it
absolutely HAD to be Vietnamese.  I suppose it's because they don't drink
milk.  LOL