In a development that will surely upset dairy farmers and the milk lobby, researchers have found a link between dairy consumption and prostate cancer. The headlines you may see talk mostly about whole milk, but skim milk and low-fat milk are potentially problematic too. The findings were based on the the Physicians’ Health Study, which has tracked more than 21,000 men over several decades.
Here’s what they found. Overall, they found that men who had 2.5 servings of dairy products per day had a higher risk of developing prostate cancer (PCa) than those that had less than half a serving per day. Digging deeper, they found that skim and low-fat dairy increased prostate cancer risk, but only for low-grade, less-aggressive forms of the cancer—they type that’s usually caught and diagnosed early and responds to treatment. But whole milk dairy increased the risk of developing aggressive, deadly forms of cancer. The study’s authors suspect that the saturated fat in the whole milk contributes to conditions such as obesity, insulin resistance, and Type-2 diabetes, which may aggravate cancer growth.
Other factors may be at play as well. Men who drink whole milk, on average tend to smoke more, drink more, and exercise less than men who drink skim or low-fat milk.
