A glass of milk a day may cut the risk of bowel cancer by nearly a fifth, says a new study funded by Cancer Research UK.
According to the study, consuming an additional 300mg of calcium (about the amount in a large glass of milk) a day could be linked to decreasing the risk of bowel cancer by 17%.
Researchers from the University of Oxford have published the largest single study of diet and bowel cancer to date in Nature Communications. They used data from more than 500,000 women to investigate the link between 97 dietary products and nutrients and bowel cancer risk over an average time of 16 years.
“This is the most comprehensive single study ever conducted into the relationship between diet and bowel cancer, and it highlights the potential protective role of calcium in the development of this disease,” said Dr Keren Papier, lead researcher of the study.
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the world causing nearly 2 million cases and one million deaths annually. New diagnoses are expected to reach 3.2 million by 2040, with deaths rising to 1.6 million largely because of rises in wealthy countries. For reasons that remain unclear, bowel cancer is rising sharply in younger people around the world, The Guardian reported.
Previous studies have suggested that dairy products can help prevent bowel cancer, but the evidence was not clear-cut. For the latest study, Papier and her colleagues used dietary data from more than 540,000 women over nearly 17 years to investigate how 97 foods, drinks and nutrients affect bowel cancer risk.
“Maintaining a healthy, balanced diet, alongside keeping a healthy weight and stopping smoking, is one of the best ways to lower your risk of bowel cancer. This includes cutting down on alcohol and red and processed meat, and eating lots of fruit, vegetables, and wholegrains. Dairy products like milk can also be part of a diet which reduces bowel cancer risk, " Sophia Lowes at Cancer Research UK has been quoted as saying by The Guardian.