I have a question about cows! Do you know if Holsteins produce milk with higher amounts of lactose? Because I know tons of people that eat dairy back in the home country but develop some strange lactose intolerance in the States, and I've been trying to figure out why. Thank you!
For a REALLY solid answer I'd need to know what your home country is so I could compare it to the US! There's a LOT of variation between the cattle and dairy production of different regions, from the sorts of breeds used down to the very way that milk sold on the shelf is preserved and classified.
As examples, Italy uses different preservation methods that assume the consumer is buying less milk at a time so it can be fresher, Kenya's market is mostly small producers using traditional open-pasture methods (though this is changing and please for the love of god do not move towards holsteins it's a fucking trap), India's milk mostly comes from native cow and buffalo breeds, etc.
But I can say for certain;
Holsteins typically produce slightly less lactose than other breeds because their milk is practically boob water. There are also studies that show that crossing cattle with holsteins makes their milk less nutritious.
Milk taste and nutrition is influenced by a TON of factors, including diet, exercise, mental health, and even time between milkings.
American food safety standards are terrible, and are about to get even worse because of the current administration.
Anecdotally, I've heard a LOT of stories about American milk making visitors and returning travelers sick. I can also confirm that milk in the UK just plain tastes better.
In fact as a personal story, here in the states I only ever buy Lactaid brand milk, which has lactASE added to break down the lactOSE. Regular milk here gives me problems when I drink more than a glass of it.
(store brand lactose-free milk works too, and is cheaper, but this is one of those situations where the off-brand stuff doesn't taste as yummy imo.)
While I was with my partner overseas, I was drinking regular whole milk from the regular convenience store with ZERO problems. Straight chugging it daily AND adding it to every cup of tea I had. I'm already a milk fiend here but I was a milk SUPERVILLAIN over there.
So I recommend trying lactose-free, to see if it works. I'm not even lactose intolerant, but it helped me.
There's also a budding discussion about a protein structure found in the milk of certain northern dairy breeds, including the holstein, called A1 beta-casein. This protein is extremely common in American milk, and there is evidence that some people have a negative reaction to it.
but PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN YOU RESEARCH THIS TOPIC.
It's one of those nutritional subjects that's still being heavily researched, but snake oil salesmen and brain worm warriors are trying to turn A1 milk into the newest Hash Slinging Slasher. Y'know. The autism-causing, diabetes-making, heart-attack inducing boogeyman which is the reason why we should all be afraid UNLESS you buy my product.
SO, be very skeptical of the "health benefit" claims, and keep an eye on study bias with the knowledge that a lot of research was funded by organizations trying to sell milk without A1.
THAT SAID, a type of milk that's A1/A2 (has some A1 beta-casein) or A2/A2 (contains absolutely no A1 beta-casein) might help. MOST traditional breeds produce A2/A2 milk-- unless, of course, they were outbred to certain European cattle breeds. Non-cattle animals, like goats and camels, also produce A2/A2.
TL;DR
Try lactose-free milk or A2/A2 milk, those might fix the issue.
(Also this is NOT a raw milk friendly space. If anyone attempts to respond to this post with the endorsement of raw milk, I will unzip you throat to tail in front of all four Clans of the forest. Brainworm Bobbies DNI)
