Does dairy increase prostate cancer risk?
/You may not know this about me, but I met Santa Clause. Yes, the real Santa Clause when I was studying in Finland and visited the North Pole. (See here's me running into the Arctic Ocean!).
So, Santa and I are homies and I was so thrilled to receive a letter from him today! He has some health concerns and he has a Take Control Tuesday Question to share.
“Dear Trisha,
I am concerned… As you know, I have SO many Christmas duties to take care of but I’m starting to get worried... I just heard on the radio — a new study found dairy products are associated with prostate cancer! Milk of all foods! Now what am I supposed to do!?
Trisha, as you know, one of my favorite parts of Christmas is drinking milk under the Christmas trees from all over the world! I really don’t know if this dairy and prostate cancer study is true. What’s the deal? Do I really have to stop drinking milk!?
Thanks for all your help Trisha. You’ve been a good girl this year and I love your Take Control Tuesday videos!
Love,
Santa Clause
P.S. Can you please put vegan, plant-based cookies under the tree this year? Mrs. Clause is on my butt to lose some weight, and she’s right. Thanks!”
Oo-ee Santa. Well you're right! A study published in November, 2014 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that intakes of total dairy products, all types of milk, low-fat milk and cheese were all associated with an increased risk in prostate cancer.
Now Santa, I want you to know that this study isn't just based on one single study. The authors conducted a meta-analysis -- they compiled the results of 32 different prospective studies and found the above results, which makes an even stronger case for dairy and prostate cancer risk.
Additionally, researchers found that supplemental calcium was associated with increased risk of fatal prostate cancer. Yikes!
Interestingly though, non-dairy sources of calcium were not associated with increased prostate cancer risk. Yeah for plants!
This is even more reason to get your calcium from plants including broccoli, garbanzo beans, tofu, raw carrots, kale and yes, almond milk (which has more calcium per serving than regular milk!)
To learn why plants are better for your bones than dairy, watch this Take Control Tuesday video.
So Santa, my friend, ask your beloved milk givers to swap that cow utter juice for some almond milk instead. Problem solved!
And of course, I will happily leave you some healthy, plant-based cookies for Christmas this year. And I included cookie recipes for our Take Control Tuesday viewers too :)
Find over 15 holiday treats for Santa on my Healthy Holiday Treats Pinterest board here.
Now Santa and I would love to hear from you...
Take Control Now
Do you have any concerns about drinking or not drinking milk?
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