Just be careful with raw milk! They warn especially people with weak immune system not to consume any, because the microflora is still completely intact. And that includes harmful bacteria like listeria!

And you should always consider this when feeling "alien" with a lactose intolerance: People with lactose intolerance are the normal ones!
Those of us who still produce the enzyme lactase (that DOESN'T come with the milk, btw!!) are the mutants! In evolution, this mutation gave humans the advantage to get access to a huge amount of proteins they needed for development. Other mammals lose the ability to produce lactase in bigger quantities after being weaned.

Isn't vitamin D in milk naturally anyway?

Short answer "no". However, there is one brand of Milk in the Coop, which has a red/white karton, and has added Calcium and I believe also added Vit D. Otherwise, get your Vit D drops at the pharmacy without a prescription.

Yes, it depends what you mean when you say normal. The lactase mutation is present in about 85 to 98 percent (dependent of survey methodology) of the world's population outside of China and surrounding areas of east asia.

Evolutionarily, we are freaks, but adult lactase production is the least of our freakishness.

Hello Wallabies,

Wow, 1CHF a liter is an excellent price. I buy my from the local organic farm in Kilchberg at 1.50CHF. For that price you have to bring your own container and fill up yourself. It's 1.80CHF if you don't bring your own container. 50% more expensive - sounds like a new topic of conversation...what's the price of milk where you are?

My point exactly. Stop messing around with my food please. If anyone needs supplements, then it is up to them.

In my village in Vaud it was 1.10 bringing your own container (actually, if you forget it they had extras, no cost). But that was 3 years ago. Don't know if/how much it went up.

Apparently Children are more at risk of vitamin D deficiency. They spend more time inside -less timeplaying outside.

Babies cannot create enough of their own own Vitamin D so in Switzerland, they are given supplements.

For everyone else, they can get outside and get some sun (weather permitting).

Even respected Cancer Research charities are now saying that some sun is important.

More simple than that - babies who born vitamin D deficient because their mothers are vitamin D deficient.

With my third pregnancy, I was working mostly indoors (office/computer job) and I made the effort to go outdoors and put my face and hands in the sunshine for 10 minutes each day.

Mothers who are pregnant through the winter have babies with lower vitamin D than mothers who are pregnant in the summer months.

Babies are not generally born with 'good' Vit D levels that dramatically decrease, they either lay down the vitamin during the pregnancy, or they don't.

Breastmilk/Formula/Cow's milk contains low amounts of vitamin D. The best source of Vit D is sunshine. Our bones need Vitamin D to process calcium - no point in having lots of calcium in your diet if you are vitamin D deficient - but if you sort out the Vitamin D, your body can build your bones using the calcium.

There are heaps of nutrients that are laid down / stored in the body during prenatal life (or not)...that become important later...the biggest factor in deficiency will be whether the mother was deficient during the pregnancy - it's very hard to supplement a baby later...

Milk is actually not considered a very high source of vit D - if you are deficient, get some sunlight or drops - although Vit D deficiency can also indicate malabsorption or other problems with digestion/diet.

There was an English pediatrician talking on BBC radio 4 the other day about this subject and he explained, with some embarrassment, that he noticed that the rib cage on one of his children was deforming in a way that suggested rickets.

Rickets is also on the increase because of those over-protective middle-class mothers who smother their children in total sun block every time the sun comes through the clouds.