Does Drinking Milk Increase Breast Cancer Risk?

Several listeners have asked me to offer some perspective a new study that’s been in the news. Tess wrote:

“A few days ago, I heard about a study finding a 70-80% chance of breast cancer in women who consume 2-3 cups of milk a day. That seems pretty high. I feel like everyone would have breast cancer, since the dietary guidelines recommended 2-3 cups per day. What are your thoughts regarding this study? Do you think we should stop consuming dairy?”

At first, I wondered if Tess had misunderstood or mis-stated the findings. But then I found a press release from Loma Linda University, in which they quoted the lead researcher, Gary Fraser, as saying that his study provides “fairly strong evidence that either dairy milk or some other factor closely related to drinking dairy milk is a cause of breast cancer in women.”  He goes on to say “for those drinking two to three cups per day, the risk increased… to 70% to 80%.”

In other words, 8 out every 10 women who drink 3 cups of milk a day will get breast cancer. As Tess points out, this doesn’t seem to square with reality.

And, indeed, that’s not even remotely what the study found.

Before I continue, let me just reiterate something I have said many times in the past. Dairy is not essential to a healthy diet. You—and your kids—can get all the calcium, protein, and other nutrients you need without consuming milk or dairy.  If you don’t want to consume dairy products, for any reason whatsoever, you have my complete support.

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Best sources of calcium

On the other hand, milk is a convenient and affordable source of high-quality protein, highly absorbable calcium and other nutrients. Assuming that you don’t have an allergy or other intolerance, dairy can supply valuable nutrition without significant risk.

RELATED: Is milk bad for your bones?

Should you stop drinking milk?

For those of you who do drink milk and are wondering whether you should stop, let’s take a closer look at what the study actually found.

But first, a bit of good news: Fraser and his colleagues found absolutely no association between the consumption of cheese or yogurt and breast cancer risk.

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