Lactose-free whey is a high protein substance derived from milk, with lactose filtered out via microfiltration. It is used in lactose-free products for those who are lactose intolerant, which is common in many populations due to a recent evolutionary adaptation to dairy farming.
Lactose-free whey is a substance derived from milk as a byproduct of the cheese-making process or casein protein extraction that has had its lactose, a type of sugar found in milk, filtered out. Whey is high in protein and is used in the manufacture of many foods, and whey protein isolates are common ingredients in dietary supplements. Lactose Free Whey is manufactured for use as an ingredient in products for people who are lactose intolerant, meaning they cannot digest lactose properly and may experience adverse reactions when consumed. Most adult humans are at least lactose intolerant, although due to the fact that dairy farming has been practiced much longer and more intensively in some parts of the world than others, its frequency varies greatly between native populations of different areas.
Whey is what’s left of milk after the primary protein in milk, called casein, is coagulated into a solid and removed in a process called curdling. This leaves behind another protein that normally makes up about 1/5 of the protein in milk, called whey protein, along with water and other milk components. Lactose-free whey is made by subjecting this substance to a process known as microfiltration, in which whey is filtered through a filter that separates whey protein from whey carbohydrates, including lactose . It can therefore be used in the production of lactose-free products, such as lactose-free whey protein shakes, baked goods and non-dairy spreads.
Lactose (C12H22O11) is an organic compound that is part of a larger category of compounds called disaccharide sugars. It is part of the milk of all mammalian species, including humans. Children, except those with certain intestinal lesions or a rare genetic disorder called congenital lactose deficiency, are naturally able to digest lactose because their bodies make an enzyme called lactose that breaks it down, but as adults produce more lactose it usually decreases or stops altogether. A lactose-intolerant person who consumes lactose can experience symptoms such as nausea, cramping, and diarrhea, which vary in severity based on the amount consumed and the person’s degree of lactose deficiency. As a result, many lactose intolerant people try to avoid lactose or follow a completely lactose-free diet, so there is a sizeable market for lactose-free foods.
Lactose intolerance is very common because the practice of milking cattle or other animals to produce milk for human consumption is only about 8-10 thousand years old which is very recent compared to the historical times in which evolution operates . Thus, for most of human evolutionary history, there would have been no benefit to being able to digest milk as an adult. The highly variable frequency of lactose intolerance in different populations also reflects the role of evolutionary adaptation, as the first large-scale dairy production is thought to have begun in central Europe. As a result, lactose intolerance is nowadays very rare among people of central or northern European descent, but tends to become more common with greater separation from Europe, to the point where it is almost universal in China, Southeast Asia and much of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as among Native Americans.
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