Milky Way

Want to hear something weird? Most of the world's population actually can't digest milk. According to a recent USA Today article, "Somewhat less than 40% of people in the world retain the ability to digest lactose after childhood. The numbers are often given as close to 0% of Native Americans, 5% of Asians, 25% of African and Caribbean peoples, 50% of Mediterranean peoples and 90% of northern Europeans. Sweden has one of the world's highest percentages of lactase tolerant people."

The really weird part is that "[b]eing able to digest milk is so strange that scientists say we shouldn't really call lactose intolerance a disease, because that presumes it's abnormal. Instead, they call it lactase persistence, indicating what's really weird is the ability to continue to drink milk."

So those of us who can chug milk or munch on tons of cheese are actually in the minority. Granted, having an intolerance probably won't send you to the hospital in dire need of Epinephrine the way having an allergy to dairy will, but consuming milk products can still make you feel lousy and people with a lactose intolerance still have a tough time navigating restaurant menus.