# Are there any cultures in which adult humans consume breastmilk? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cultures-in-which-adult-humans-consume-breastmilk/215829 "2003-11-29T01:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![moonovercity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@moonovercity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonovercity)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cultures-in-which-adult-humans-consume-breastmilk/215829/1 "2003-11-29T01:33:53Z")
While breastfeeding my son the other day I started wondering if this stuff that is so nutritious for my son has ever been used as a supplement to adult diets in other cultures. Anyone ever heard of anything like this? ---
**Author:** ![Z\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/41988e/32.png) [@Z\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Z_Al)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cultures-in-which-adult-humans-consume-breastmilk/215829/2 "2003-11-29T02:00:46Z")
Maybe a few men tried it just for the fun of it, but I would say it would be awkward if men would use breastmilk as a source of milk for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![Matchka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cultures-in-which-adult-humans-consume-breastmilk/215829/3 "2003-11-29T02:43:58Z")
–Fetish bars will sometimes serve it –Uday Hussein (Saddam’s eldest) is purported to have consumed it daily in an effort to recover from injuries incurred in an assassination attempt. Had some myself as an adult (by accident), kinda yummy but I never had the guts to “latch.” ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cultures-in-which-adult-humans-consume-breastmilk/215829/4 "2003-11-29T03:40:42Z")
Matchka, now you´ve got me all puzzled about what kind of accident that could have been. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cultures-in-which-adult-humans-consume-breastmilk/215829/5 "2003-11-29T04:07:25Z")
Almost all adults throughout the world are lactose intolerant. To a good first approximation, only those of western European descent are not. Human milk has the highest lactose content of any mammal’s milk. So while there may be individual cases of adults using it (there is an ancient urban legend about John D. Rockefeller using a wet nurse as he grew older and had digestive problems, but I don’t know how true that is) no culture is likely to pick this up in a large-scale fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Sinungaling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Sinungaling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinungaling)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-cultures-in-which-adult-humans-consume-breastmilk/215829/6 "2003-11-29T04:27:47Z")
Uday apparently took breast milk in hopes of relieving his chronic pain. Something about it being an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. Which isn’t to say that the Chinese consumed it on a widespread and regular basis.