Re: Dairy products discussed in The Healthy Skeptic

[Guest guest]

Hi Francesca:

Yes. Two papers have been posted here, by me I think, which found an

increased risk of advanced prostate cancer with high milk consumption.

One, IIRC, was a finding from the Health Professionals follow up study,

or the Physicians Health Study.

Eating green vegetables and supplementing calcium may be the best route

to get enough calcium. But the optimal total calcium intake is far from

clear to me, since excessive calcium is also dangerous. It seems

unlikely it is the calcium in the milk that explains the higher

incidence of advanced prostate cancer, since a recent study of

supplements of calcium and vitamin D found appreciably reduced new

cancer cases - of all types - even when supplemented with calcium only,

compared with placebo.

Rodney.

--- In , Francesca Skelton <fskelton@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi folks: I said that I would post excerpts from this book on

occasion.

> Recently someone asked about getting calcium from/eating more dairy

> products. Here is what the author has to say about the diary industry:

>

> Pg 48: Of all the groups seeking superfood status for their products,

none

> has been more aggressive than the dairy industry.............The

industry

> spreads the word about milk and bone health.......But many of these

studies

> are funded by the American Dairy Association.

>

> It's true that calcium is necessary for strong bones and that dairy

products

> are rich sources. But....the evidence is mixed regarding milk's effect

on

> bones.....It's worth noting that in countries such as China and Japan,

where

> consumption of dairy is low, rates of fractures are also relatively

> low........What's more calcium can be obtained from: green leafy

vegetables,

> salmon, dried peas or beans and other fortified products.

>

> If fear of disintegrating bones isn't reason enough for the dairy

industry

> to push their products, they have added another, even more

controversial

> claim: that milk and dairy products promote weight loss. Many of these

> controversial studies have also been financed by the dairy industry.

>

> Similar studies by researchers have found no evidence that dairy

promotes

> weight loss........

>

> In fact, higher dairy consumption has been linked with prostate and

ovarian

> cancer (Are you listening Rod?). The research doesn't prove that dairy

> causes cancer but it does raise the possibility of drawbacks of eating

the

> amount of dairy pushed on consumers by the dairy industry.

>