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That's a bit of an exaggeration, but not entirely inaccurate.

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What you posted is exactly what this ignorant post is in response to. The post remains bullshit. There is no genetic difference that accounts for this and no, not only white people can process lactose.

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I had to check that. I'm not sure that's accurate. “Today, there is good functional evidence that the trait of LP has a genetic basis and follows a dominant pattern of inheritance”

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Genetics of Lactose Intolerance: An Updated Review and Online Interactive World Maps of Phenotype...

In humans the ability to digest milk lactose is conferred by a β-galactosidase enzyme called lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LPH). While in some humans (approximately two-thirds of humankind) the levels...

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It's not related to skin colour, so "white" is an exaggeration. But white people and Indians tend to have the LP gene.

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It's not based on race nor is the "only white people can process lactose' even remotely true. I won't lie defending this post is racist as f.

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What are you talking about? It's not *only* white people. But he's not entirely wrong. It *is* mostly white people, but also Indians, but not southern French. It's not racist any more than pointing out the fact that white people are less UV-tolerant than darker-skinned people.

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Did you read through the paper you linked thoroughly? They pointed out that epigenetics can be a contributing factor to phenotypes. Also just because certain genes can be associated with processing lactose, doesn't mean it is connected to race (which is unrelated to genetics).

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Meh, who cares? There's also an ethnic association with alcohol dehydrogenase. The bad medical take was that "only" white people can process lactose. It's an oversimplification to say "only", but the association is strong.

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Brett Dunbar

@Brett_Dunbar

Sep 5

Replying to @Boblet3001 @ChirpyT8 and @BadMedicalTakes

Not directly linked, but strongly associated. Lactase persistence is strongly associated with northwest Europe. In Britain and Ireland about 100% of the indigenous population have lactose persistence. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_p

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People migrate over time and populations change, and their environment and genetics can change along with it. Certain things can be associated with geographic locations (look up the "founder effect"). Still not related to race though. nature.com/scitable/topic

6:05 PM · Sep 5, 2022Twitter for Android

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Some people have lactase persistence. Some people don't. People who lived in Europe for millennia are likely to have less melanin and more lactase. It's not because they're white. But white people are also likely to have more lactase.

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I don't see what's so controversial about this. White people are more likely to be ginger. Black people will often have afro-style hair. Dutch people are generally taller than Italians – nature v nurture? Who cares.