Everything you ever wanted to know about the substance that binds all
mammals together.
After drawing its first breath, every newborn mammal turns his or her
complete attention to obtaining milk. This primal act was once thought
to stem from a basic fact: milk provides the initial source of calories
and nutrients for all mammalian young. But it turns out that milk is a
much more complicated biochemical cocktail and provides benefits beyond
nutrition. In this fascinating book, biologists Michael L. Power and Jay
Schulkin reveal this liquid's evolutionary history and show how its
ingredients have changed over many millions of years to become a potent
elixir. Power and Schulkin walk readers through the early origins of the
mammary gland and describe the incredible diversification of milk among
the various mammalian lineages.
After revealing the roots of lactation, the authors describe the
substances that naturally occur in milk and discuss their biological
functions. They reveal that mothers pass along numerous biochemical
signals to their babies through milk. The authors explain how milk
boosts an infant's immune system, affects an infant's metabolism and
physiology, and helps inoculate and feed the baby's gut microbiome.
Throughout the book, the authors weave in stories from studies of other
species, explaining how comparative research sheds light on human
lactation. The authors then turn their attention to the fascinating
topic of cross-species milk consumption--something only practiced by
certain humans who evolved an ability to retain lactase synthesis into
adulthood. The first book to discuss milk from a comparative and
evolutionary perspective, Power and Schulkin's masterpiece reveals the
rich biological story of the common thread that connects all mammals.
