MARCH 7 2020 LISTENER 39
G
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AG
ES
milk experienced adverse
gastrointestinal symptoms initially,
the lactose-tolerant children soon
acclimatised to the milk and their
symptoms decreased. The lactose-
intolerant children’s symptoms
remained until they stopped drinking
the milk.
Still, this doesn’t explain how
cows’-milk protein could affect people
with lactose intolerance, which is
associated with a deficiency of lactase,
an enzyme involved in digesting milk
sugars.
Although scientists don’t com-
pletely understand it yet, evidence
suggests that the peptides in
A1-predominant milk cause inflam-
mation in the small intestine and this
may suppress the production of the
lactase enzyme – creating the gastro-
intestinal symptoms in turn.
Notably, all of these
clinical trials were
funded by the a2
Milk Company
or involved their
employees. And industry-
funded publications
have a notorious
history of supporting
their financial backer’s
interests. Nonetheless,
it’s certainly worth
keeping an open
mind in regard to
this research as the
many pieces of the
milk puzzle are put
together. l
Email your nutrition questions to
[email protected]
FOOD FIGHT
The feeding behaviour of sperm whales
in Kaikōura changed for nearly a year after
the November 2016 earthquake, according
to University of Otago marine scientists.
Invertebrates were washed out into the ocean
as a result of the quake, and when the whales
returned closer to land, they discovered that
their food source – the squid that feed on
invertebrates – had also retreated to deeper
water. The whales were forced to follow them
and spent 25% more time at the surface
between dives. The invertebrates, squid and
sperm whales returned closer to land about 10
months after the earthquake.
REEF MADNESS
Rising sea temperatures and acidic waters are
likely to kill the majority of coral reefs by 2100.
Biogeographers from the University of Hawai‘i
at Mānoa are warning that 70-90% of the reefs
will disappear over the next 20 years as warmer
water causes coral bleaching, in which algae
living in the tissue are expelled, turning the
coral completely white. Scientists are growing
live corals in labs and transporting them to reefs
to encourage recovery, but this will become
more difficult as temperatures continue to rise.
BLASTED BOTOX
Severe sweating affects 5% of people, but it
can be alleviated by botox injections in the
underarms, which block the nerves responsible
for sweating. To eliminate the use of painful
needles, South Korean scientists have tested
blasting the entire body in liquid botox with
a high-pressure jet nozzle. This method
successfully stopped excessive sweating
in the 20 test subjects and remained
effective up to a month later.
TOO HUMAN JACKASS
The unfortunately named jackass
penguin shares linguistic traits
with humans. Italian researchers
took 590 recordings of the
African penguin, named for
its donkey-bray-like call, and
found commonality between
the penguins and our own
speech. This is the first
such observation outside
of primates.
Post-dairy discomfort
after drinking A1 milk
occurred whether
the participants
were lactose-
intolerant on not.
96
The percentage of
similarity between
the new Sars-
CoV-2 coronavirus
and a virus
identified in bats
in China in 2013.
SCIENCE AND NATURE BRIEFS