I think you’re right that flatulence has probably been around and written about for many dynasties, but I also think the high amount of dairy has contributed enough that things like this make it news.

And when you talk about northern and southern Europeans and lactose intolerance, you may be touching on acquired lactose intolerance which occurs when the body diminishes lactase production because of lack of need. This can be reversed.

Asian-Americans, who supposedly are up to 90% lactose intolerant are more commonly the genetic variety, where the body just stops producing it in required quantities, whether the body is consuming lactose or not. Some 10% of Whites in America might also be of this type.

I have always loved milk, and I don’t mind cheese, either. From cereal in the morning to cream in my coffee to yogurt and cottage cheese, milk has always been a part of my day. The lack of lactase production had nothing to do with lack of need for the enzyme.

If 90% of Asian-Americans are lactose intolerant, there’s got to be something similar going on among same-ethnic cousins back in Asia. But the literature on lactose intolerance was slow at making its way into doctor’s offices. When I checked two years ago, there was only one place offering a lactose intolerance diagnostic exam, and no place selling lactase pills. Only in the last few weeks is lactose-free milk being sold in stores.

If your current squat runs out of gas, let me know and I’ll get Young to line you up with a gig on the fart census.

Subjective? Moi?

You’re - I take it from your post - the one whose gut aches - with which I genuinely sympathize, if only because I wouldn’t want to be without my daily fix of milk and cheese (it’s the old North European berserker genes, dontcha know - my understanding is that early Europeans too were generally lactose intolerant, but that northern Europeans gradually adapted because dairy products and animals were what enabled them to last through the winters, while the incidence of lactose intolerance among southern Europeans, who didn’t have any Darwinian impulse to so adapt, is much, much higher).

Sure, my wife’s input is merely anectodal. But she’s a Korean, younger than me, but probably old enough to be your mother. Works with a large number of Koreans, male and female, of varying ages and has had an opportunity to watch (and bemoan) the growth in Korean consumption of dairy products (in all their insidious and nefarious forms); she’s in the nutrition business. So, if she says that the incidence of farting among Koreans is not correlated with dairy intake — another anecdotal source is the rish scatalogical literature and lore in Korea [Big Hominid, ffel free to jump in here] long pre-dating the introduction of dairy products — that’s a pretty good working hypothesis for me. Besides she is the wife, and a Korean one, so not only must she be obeyed, she must actually be listened too. ;))

So, yeah I got milk (and game and gun[s]), and I don’t see anything about the JoonAng article except a plain vanilla e.g. of the post hoc propter hoc fallacy.

Wow, and I thought I had the best job in the world. Your wife gets to monitor Korea’s fart count?

OK, I checked the link; but I still am not sold. If this were an issue of ethno-genetic lactose intolerance, the JAD article would have been talking about diarrhea and gastrointestinal pain as much as or more than farting. It’s also hard to imagine that given the susceptibility to actual pain and diarrhea, Koreans would be drinking enough milk to create a farting problem. Finally, my wife tells me that there has been no increase in flatulence in Korea since the ingestion of dairy products has become more widespread.

I think this is another subtle effort to blame the West for a very homegrown problem. ;))

I share your general distast for Korean milk. I used to get milk on the weekends from my neighbor’s cows in upstate New York and, in the City, found a supplier from whom I could get the real deal in a glass bottle with the cream on top. The only thing here that is readily available that’s even close to the same quality is the full fat stuff under the “pasteur” brand name.

After being one of the bloggers who ran with the Reuters item saying that Sister Hibiscus was the target of a crackdown, I’ll hold off on comment on this item in the Telegraph suggesting that the CCP are seeking to

I didn’t like Korean milk at first, but grew to like it. I go back and forth from Korean milk to the ultra-pasteurized milk at Yongsan Garrison, and neither one bothers me much, taste-wise.