Lactose intolerance is actually the human norm – but racism, the US government and business interests have made it into a condition

Most people worldwide are lactose intolerant, meaning their bodies cannot easily digest lactose, the sugar found in milk. This is the natural human state, as lactose intolerance is shared by every adult animal except for certain human groups. Lactose intolerance causes symptoms like bloating, nausea, and diarrhea after consuming dairy. Despite this, it is often mistakenly viewed as a defect rather than a normal physiological condition. The article highlights that lactose intolerance was not discovered as a condition until the 1960s, when scientists began studying why some people felt sick after drinking milk.

In the post-World War II era, American dairy producers faced a milk surplus and lobbied the U.S. government to intervene. The government purchased excess milk and distributed it through programs like school lunches, both domestically and overseas. This included countries like Japan and Taiwan, where milk was introduced as part of U.S. Cold War aid. Many people in these regions had never regularly consumed milk before, and their bodies reacted poorly, leading scientists to investigate the issue. This marked the beginning of lactose intolerance being framed as a medical condition.

In 1966, a study comparing Black and white incarcerated people in Baltimore found that Black participants had lower levels of lactase, the enzyme needed to digest lactose. Scientists initially interpreted this as an 'inborn error of metabolism,' assuming lactose tolerance was the human norm. It wasn’t until later research that experts realized lactose intolerance is the standard condition for most adults, with only certain ethnic groups—primarily those of northern European descent—having a genetic mutation allowing them to digest milk after infancy. By 1981, a National Institutes of Health official confirmed that lactose intolerance is a normal physiological state.

Nutritional imperialism refers to the practice of treating white, Western diets as the universal standard while labeling other diets as deficient or abnormal. This bias extended beyond lactose intolerance to other biological differences, such as aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency (commonly known as Asian flush), which causes facial flushing after alcohol consumption. Historically, scientists and policymakers promoted Western diets as superior, even advocating for changes like replacing rice with wheat in Asian countries. This approach reinforced racial hierarchies by framing nonwhite bodies and diets as inferior or problematic.

The dairy industry and U.S. government played a significant role in promoting milk consumption globally, often ignoring the fact that most people are lactose intolerant. For example, the Chinese Nutrition Society included a glass of milk in its 2022 Food Guide Plate, despite estimates that over 90% of the Han Chinese population is lactose intolerant. This reflects a broader pattern where lactose intolerance has been used to justify racist narratives, such as claims that nonwhite people are biologically inferior. White supremacists have even weaponized lactose intolerance in online forums and real-world actions, such as disrupting anti-racist events by smashing milk jugs.