Dr. Christopher Gardner

For me, the best way to answer that is people come up to me quite often and say something like, Professor Gardner, I know you're all into whole food, plant-based diets. And I was vegan. I was vegetarian. I was trying that. And I had some health issues. And I switched to be more fat and more meat. And I'm almost embarrassed to be asking you this because my doctor told me I shouldn't do this either.

But all my health issues have cleaned up. I'm looking really good. And I have a whole other cadre of folks who are eating a lot of meat and a lot of fat. And they said, I went vegan. I went low-fat vegan. And all my health issues cleaned up. And I'm much better now than I was before. And it's really hard to look someone in the eye who's doing something wildly different and say, well, you're wrong.

But all my health issues have cleaned up. I'm looking really good. And I have a whole other cadre of folks who are eating a lot of meat and a lot of fat. And they said, I went vegan. I went low-fat vegan. And all my health issues cleaned up. And I'm much better now than I was before. And it's really hard to look someone in the eye who's doing something wildly different and say, well, you're wrong.

But all my health issues have cleaned up. I'm looking really good. And I have a whole other cadre of folks who are eating a lot of meat and a lot of fat. And they said, I went vegan. I went low-fat vegan. And all my health issues cleaned up. And I'm much better now than I was before. And it's really hard to look someone in the eye who's doing something wildly different and say, well, you're wrong.

You're lying. I mean, clearly these people were really probing for the diet that was best for them, and they were following some advice that they thought was good, and they kept following it, and it wasn't working. They tried something counter to that, and it worked better. And they're trying to rationalize that and deal with that. So I am sure that there are different diets for different people.

You're lying. I mean, clearly these people were really probing for the diet that was best for them, and they were following some advice that they thought was good, and they kept following it, and it wasn't working. They tried something counter to that, and it worked better. And they're trying to rationalize that and deal with that. So I am sure that there are different diets for different people.

You're lying. I mean, clearly these people were really probing for the diet that was best for them, and they were following some advice that they thought was good, and they kept following it, and it wasn't working. They tried something counter to that, and it worked better. And they're trying to rationalize that and deal with that. So I am sure that there are different diets for different people.

But at the end of the day, it's just not the packaged processed food that the whole world is leaning towards.

But at the end of the day, it's just not the packaged processed food that the whole world is leaning towards.

But at the end of the day, it's just not the packaged processed food that the whole world is leaning towards.

So really the only classic example that's well established is lactose intolerance and lactase. And Northern Europeans developing the ability to continue making the enzyme lactase to break apart the molecule lactose well into adult life. So the majority of the world is lactose intolerant. And if we could just do that for a minute.

So really the only classic example that's well established is lactose intolerance and lactase. And Northern Europeans developing the ability to continue making the enzyme lactase to break apart the molecule lactose well into adult life. So the majority of the world is lactose intolerant. And if we could just do that for a minute.

So really the only classic example that's well established is lactose intolerance and lactase. And Northern Europeans developing the ability to continue making the enzyme lactase to break apart the molecule lactose well into adult life. So the majority of the world is lactose intolerant. And if we could just do that for a minute.

So when you're a newborn infant and you're having breast milk, you are getting lactose in your mom's milk. And then once you are weaned off the breast, most people in the world stop making lactase, that enzyme. And so I'm sure everybody listening to this knows someone who's lactose intolerant and either buys lactase milk or avoids milk and avoids dairy because of the GI disorders.

So when you're a newborn infant and you're having breast milk, you are getting lactose in your mom's milk. And then once you are weaned off the breast, most people in the world stop making lactase, that enzyme. And so I'm sure everybody listening to this knows someone who's lactose intolerant and either buys lactase milk or avoids milk and avoids dairy because of the GI disorders.

So when you're a newborn infant and you're having breast milk, you are getting lactose in your mom's milk. And then once you are weaned off the breast, most people in the world stop making lactase, that enzyme. And so I'm sure everybody listening to this knows someone who's lactose intolerant and either buys lactase milk or avoids milk and avoids dairy because of the GI disorders.

So it really is fascinating that some Northern Europeans at some point had enough cows and dairy and ate it that they developed the ability to keep making this enzyme later in life, whereas the rest of the planet didn't. And it's not really hard cut and dry, so there's actually people who are lactose intolerant who can still tolerate some milk. There's a lot of people who can't digest it.

So it really is fascinating that some Northern Europeans at some point had enough cows and dairy and ate it that they developed the ability to keep making this enzyme later in life, whereas the rest of the planet didn't. And it's not really hard cut and dry, so there's actually people who are lactose intolerant who can still tolerate some milk. There's a lot of people who can't digest it.

So it really is fascinating that some Northern Europeans at some point had enough cows and dairy and ate it that they developed the ability to keep making this enzyme later in life, whereas the rest of the planet didn't. And it's not really hard cut and dry, so there's actually people who are lactose intolerant who can still tolerate some milk. There's a lot of people who can't digest it.

And to be honest, it doesn't really make much sense. If you look at mammals around the planet, All the mammals, right, mammalian, breast tissue, breast milk. So they're all drinking the mom's breast milk until they get weaned off for food. No other mammal on the planet drinks the breast milk of another mammal to thrive later in life. So humans are the only ones who do it.