在美国Argonne National Laboratory的“Ask A Scientist”科学问答专栏读到一则关于牛奶的趣谈：
Milk provides lactose, a sugar which requires a special enzyme, lactase, in order to be digested.The World Health Organization has found that 70% of people above the age of 12 lose the ability to produce lactase, and so cannot adequately digest the lactose in milk.As a result,the sugar remains intact and reaches the lower intestine, where residing bacterial flora use it as food.However, lots of gas is produced, leading to bloating and other GI disturbances.
翻译如下：牛奶提供乳糖，需要特殊的乳糖酶才能分解消化。世界卫生组织发现，近七成12岁以上的人群丧失了生成乳糖酶的能力，不能充分消化牛奶中的乳糖。于是糖毫发无伤，直抵大肠，消化菌群就以此为食。不过，这会产生很多气体，导致放屁和其它困扰。
如此看来，早餐喝牛奶未必是一个好的选择。因为一天才刚开始，在接下来的公共活动中，“释放气体”好像有失体面——即便“不要问我从哪里来”，真凶未必遭众人侧目。记得以前《万象》上曾译介英文打油诗。有一首大意说，在盛大晚宴上，邻座的贵妇“屁响连连”，众人还意味是诗人“我”有失风雅。无责任猜测：贵妇为美白一天牛奶数杯，再根据上面的生物学分析，频频作案自然不在话下。Trackback: http://tb.donews.net/TrackBack.aspx?PostId=268715