Posted on 05/10/2022 9:13:58 AM PDT by Red Badger
According to a major study that investigated dairy consumption and cancer risk in Chinese adults, greater intake of dairy products was associated with higher risks of liver cancer and female breast cancer.
The first major study to investigate dairy consumption and cancer risk in Chinese adults discovered that higher intake was associated with increased risks of liver cancer and female breast cancer.
Overall evidence to date on whether eating dairy products affects the risk of cancer has not been consistent. Studies on Western populations indicate that dairy products may be associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer and a higher risk of prostate cancer, but have found no clear link for breast or other types of cancer.[1] These results, however, may not be the same for non-Western populations, where amounts and types of dairy consumption and ability to metabolize dairy products are very different.
For example, in China there is very little consumption of cheese and butter, and the consumption of milk and yogurt is also far lower than in Western populations. Additionly, most Chinese adults cannot properly metabolize dairy products due to a lack of lactase, a key enzyme for breaking down the milk sugar lactose.[2]
To establish whether dairy products affect the risk of cancer differently in Chinese people, researchers from Oxford Population Health, Peking University, and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, have today published the results of a new large-scale study in BMC Medicine. This collected data from over 510,000 participants in the China Kadoorie Biobank Study.
The participants (59% female, 41% male), who came from ten geographically diverse regions across China and joined the study between 2004 and 2008, had no previous history of cancer. When recruited, each participant (aged 30-79 years) completed a questionnaire about how frequently they consumed different food products, including dairy products. The researchers categorized the participants into three groups: regular dairy consumers (at least once a week), monthly dairy consumers, and people who never or rarely consumed dairy products (non-consumers).
Participants were followed up for an average of around 11 years, and the researchers used data from national cancer and death registries as well as health insurance records to identify new cancer diagnoses. Both fatal and non-fatal events were included. The data analyses took into account a range of other factors that can affect cancer risk, including age, sex, region, family history of cancer, socio-economic status (i.e. education and income), lifestyle factors (i.e. alcohol intake, smoking, physical activity, soy consumption, and fresh fruit intake), body mass index, chronic hepatitis B virus infection (for liver cancer), and female reproductive factors (for breast cancer).
**********************************************************************************************
The study found:
Overall, around a fifth (20%) of the participants consumed dairy products regularly (primarily milk), 11% consumed dairy products monthly, and 69% were non-consumers.
The average consumption was 38g per day overall in the whole study population and 81g per day among regular dairy consumers (compared with an average consumption of around 300g per day in participants from the UK Biobank).
During the study period 29,277 new cancer cases were recorded, with the highest rate being for lung cancer (6,282 cases), followed by female breast (2,582 cases), stomach (3,577 cases), colorectal (3,350 cases), and liver cancer (3,191 cases).
People who consumed dairy products regularly had significantly greater risks of developing liver and breast cancer. For each 50g/day intake, the risk increased by 12% and 17% respectively.
Regular dairy consumption was associated with an increased risk of lymphoma (though this was not statistically significant).
There was no association between dairy intake and colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, or any other type of cancer investigated.[3]
*******************************************************************************************
Both liver and breast cancer are among the most common types of cancer in China, accounting for around 393,000 and 368,000 new cancer cases each year respectively.[4] While these study results do not prove causation, there are several plausible biological mechanisms that may explain these associations, according to the researchers. Greater dairy consumption, for instance, may increase levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), which promotes cell proliferation and has been associated with higher risks for several types of cancer. Potentially, female sex hormones present in cow’s milk (such as estrogen and progesterone) may have a role in the increased risk of breast cancer, whilst saturated and trans-fatty acids from dairy products may increase the risk of liver cancer. For the majority of Chinese people who do not produce enough lactase, dairy products may also be broken down into products that affect cancer risk.
Dr. Maria Kakkoura, Nutritional Epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health, and the first author of the research study, said: “This was the first major study to investigate the link between dairy products and cancer risk in a Chinese population. Further studies are needed to validate these current findings, establish if these associations are causal, and investigate the potential underlying mechanisms involved.”
Although the average level of dairy consumption in China remains much lower than in European countries, it has risen rapidly in recent decades.
Associate Professor Huaidong Du, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford Population Health, and one of the senior co-authors of the study, added: “Whilst our results suggest there may be a direct link between regular dairy consumption and certain cancers, it is important to be aware that dairy products are a source of protein, vitamins, and minerals. It would not be prudent to reduce dairy consumption based solely on the results from the current study or without ensuring adequate intake of protein, vitamins, and minerals from other sources.”
The study is published in BMC Medicine.
Reference: “Dairy consumption and risks of total and site-specific cancers in Chinese adults: an 11-year prospective study of 0.5 million people” by Maria G. Kakkoura, Huaidong Du, Yu Guo, Canqing Yu, Ling Yang, Pei Pei, Yiping Chen, Sam Sansome, Wing Ching Chan, Xiaoming Yang, Lei Fan, Jun Lv, Junshi Chen, Liming Li, Timothy J. Key and Zhengming Chen on behalf of the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) Collaborative Group, 6 May 2022, BMC Medicine.
DOI: 10.1186/s12916-022-02330-3
This work was supported by Wellcome as part of their Livestock, Environment and People (LEAP) program.
Notes
World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research. Meat, Fish and Dairy Products and the Risk of Cancer. Continuous Update Project Expert Report 2018. “Country, regional, and global estimates for lactose malabsorption in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis” by Christian Løvold Storhaug, MS; Svein Kjetil Fosse, MS and Dr Lars T Fadnes, PhD, 6 July 2017, The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
DOI: 10.1016/S2468-1253(17)30154-1
The full list of site-specific cancer types investigated by the study is as follows: bladder, cervical, colorectal, endometrial, female breast, kidney, laryngeal, leukaemia, liver, lung, lymphoma, oesophageal, oral cavity, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, and stomach.
“Current cancer situation in China: good or bad news from the 2018 Global Cancer Statistics?” by Rui-Mei Feng, Yi-Nan Zong, Su-Mei Cao and Rui-Hua Xu, 29 April 2019, Cancer communications.
DOI: 10.1186/s40880-019-0368-6
Ice cream, Mandrake, children’s ice cream!
I think its all the cookies eaten with the milk that is the culprit.
So one day dairy products are bad. The next they’re good. One day coffee is bad, the next it’s good. Just kick back and enjoy life.
After learning the study results, Kamala fetched Brandon another scoop.
Is Chinese milk contaminated?
Is anything Chinese not contaminated?
“How can we get people to stop eating dairy?”
Finally! My lifelong lactose intolerance is paying off.
This is Chinese state propaganda to justify their reduced dairy production.
No mention of the history of Chinese dairy products being adulterated with cancer causing products.
I have linked breathing to cancer!
Nearly everyone ever diagnosed with cancer was breathing at the time.
This study is very nearly the same flawed logic.
Nearly everyone in this country and Europe consumes some dairy products
The only exceptions would be strict vegans and those with a severe milk allergy
This just in “WHO rules that calling something made from smushed red beans a dessert is false advertising”
I have concluded that swallowing small bits of saliva over a lifetime cause cancer.....................
“Additionly, most Chinese adults cannot properly metabolize dairy products due to a lack of lactase, a key enzyme for breaking down the milk sugar lactose”
Does this not confound the study? If lactose intolerance is prevalent among the Chinese, but the study concerns consumption of something that they’re intolerant to, one wonders if there are similar results for people who aren’t lactose intolerant. As is this is kind of like saying that people with peanut allergies who regularly eat peanut butter sandwiches suffer from various ailments. That’s certainly interesting, but one wonders whether such results would be applicable to people who don’t have peanut allergies.
Drinking water also leads to death. Causative? By these standards, yes!
I looked at this years ago - there really is a correlation between countries that consume large amounts of cheese and those with higher cancer rates.
That does it!
Social convention be darned!
I am going to be a habitual spitter!
Better not do it in Singapore!...............
Everything is bad for you. Except the Covid shots.
Consider what the Chinese put in baby formula I shudder to think what they do to me lk.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.