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Hilary Smith, Professor of History, University of Denver

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

The majority of the world is unable to process the lactose in milk without uncomfortable symptoms Olga Miltsova/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Lactose intolerance makes drinking milk or eating ice cream a literal pain. For some people, eating a dairy treat can lead to bloating, nausea and diarrhea. You might’ve experienced its effects yourself. If so, you may think of lactose intolerance as a defect rather than the norm.

But did you know that most people in the world today are lactose intolerant – and that the condition itself was invented in the 1960s?

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