Some people think consuming large amounts of dairy protein may increase the risk of breast and prostate cancers. In 2007, the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), UK, undertook the most comprehensive review of all of the scientific evidence on diet, lifestyle and cancer prevention.
Its report acknowledges that diet is a difficult area to study because of the variety of foods and the complexity of our meals. In addition, researchers found conflicting evidence surrounding any links between dairy foods and cancer, so they’re without guidelines for dairy consumption as regards cancer prevention.
More recent reviews support recommendations that having
three daily serves of milk and dairy products is safe and does not appear to increase overall cancer risk.
In 2011, scientists at New Zealand’s University of Otago reported that schoolchildren who drank milk every day reduced their risk of bowel cancer in adulthood by 30 per cent. (Previous studies in adults have suggested that calcium consumption may reduce bowel-cancer risk.)
As a result, the WCRF updated its findings the same year, noting a “probable”, as opposed to “convincing”, link between milk and calcium consumption and reduced colorectal-cancer risk.
