The real reason you can’t digest milk! [Video]

Ever heard of the term epigenetics? Ever thought you could learn about the unique expression of your genome through say.. Double Cheesy Mac N’ Cheese? In this episode, Maryanne Oketch makes her famous Super Bacon Cheesy Mac N’ Cheese while simultaneously learning about the real reason we might have trouble digesting it.  In order to really get to the bottom of things, Maryanne visits Haute Goat Farm, where she milks a goat for the very first time. There, she digs deeper into the contents of milk, and learns more about lactose. Lactose is a sugar comprised of glucose and galactose, but in order for us to properly digest it, it needs to be broken down. In order to do so, our bodies create an enzyme called lactase. But why do some of us seem to produce more lactase than others?

Upon further research, Maryanne learns that approximately two thirds of the world’s population have something called lactase non persistence. The other third have a genetic mutation that can be traced back geographically to populations that relied on the domestication of herds. But it turns out that dairy digestion isn’t just about your DNA, it’s also about the way your genes are expressed.

Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviours and environment can cause changes in how your genes are expressed. Scientists have discovered that through a process called epigenetic aging, the gene associated with lactase production is slowly turned off throughout life. While the study of epigenetics is still fairly new, the more we learn could bring us closer to understanding genetic diseases such as cancer or neurodegenerative disorders.

Can you digest dairy? Let us know in the comments below! Have you heard of any other forms of epigenetics? We’d love to know!

Check out Haute Goat Farm!
https://hautegoat.com/

African Drums (Sting) by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Artist: http://www.twinmusicom.org/

0:00 – 1:39 – Welcome to Maryanne’s kitchen!
1:40 – 2:06 – Dairy digestion, let’s get into it.
2:07 – 4:05 – It’s time to milk a goat!
4:06 – 5:01– Let’s talk about lactose..
5:02 – 5:47 – Yum goat’s milk!
5:48 – 6:32 – Lactase non persistence vs. a genetic mutation?
6:33 – 7:27 – What is Epigenetics?
7:28- 7:52 – But how does this relate to milk?
7:53 – 8:40- My mac n’ cheese was a hit