Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: colon + milk + 36,800  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

Human use of milk dates back centuries for good reason Dallas Morning News, TX - And dietary calcium may help prevent colon cancer. The point is this: Milk is a good source of several nutrients (most notably calcium and protein) that are ... Gather.com 8 Dangerous 'Un'Healthy Excuses You Don't Want to Make Gather.com, MA - Aug 3, 2008 When is the last time you cleaned out your lower colon? Or do you insist on achieving a golden tan in the middle of an icy winter by using tanning beds? ... Sowing a spring of nutrition Gulf Daily News, Bahrain - Aug 2, 2008 Calcium is also present in broccoli and The University of California's Wellness Letter reveals that broccoli has as much calcium ounce for ounce as milk. ... Milk reduces risk of colon cancer The Post, Pakistan - Jul 7, 2008 ISLAMABAD: A glass of milk a day reduces the risk of colon cancer, according to a study. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham ... Milking the facts Guardian Unlimited, UK - Aug 1, 2008 Organic milk is great for your health, according to a study. Just be prepared to drink a bath-full Earlier this year, Newcastle University issued a press ... Telegraph.co.uk Body Matters Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - Aug 3, 2008 ... Colon Cleanse & Gut Repair capsules a day; six capsules of antioxidants, fatty acids and phytonutrients a day; and a homoeopathic artichoke and milk ... The essence of goodness and richness. Purity. Life itself OpEdNews, PA - Jul 31, 2008 It is about it feeding unlabeled rBGH milk associated with cancers and precious sexual development to our children while it has simultaneously been working ... Strengthen your immune system to fight cancer and other diseases DailyNewsOnline, United Republic of Tanzania - Jul 27, 2008 Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with ... Experts: Red meat culprit in colorectal cancer Inquirer.net, Philippines - Jul 25, 2008 Cancers of the colon and rectum combined ranked as the third overall leading cancer site in 2005, according to the Philippine Cancer Facts and Estimates. ... Gut Feeling Newindpress, India - Jul 28, 2008 Intolerance towards foods such as milk may also be responsible in some cases. Heavy meals, late-night eating and faulty toilet habits such as inhibiting ...

Milk Helps Prevent Colon Cancer

A little more than a glass of milk a day can reduce the risk of cancer of the colon and rectum, according to the most comprehensive study ever done on the subject.

It is actually a study of studies, with researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston lumping together data from 10 studies of more than 534,000 people in the United States and Europe.

"We were able to look at a wider range of calcium and milk intake than in other studies, which gave us greater statistical power," explained Stephanie Smith-Warner, an assistant professor of nutritional epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and a member of the team reporting the results in the July 7 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

While several studies have shown that calcium intake reduces the recurrence of intestinal polyps, growths that can become cancerous, individual study results about the effect on cancer have been "inconclusive," she said.

The analysis showed that "people who drank more than one eight-ounce glass of milk a day had a 15 percent reduction in risk compared to those who drank less than two glasses of milk a week," she said.

It is the calcium in milk that is primarily responsible for this "modest" reduction in risk, Smith-Warner said. Calcium prevents the proliferation of cells that line the intestinal tract, stopping potential overgrowth that can make the cells become cancerous.

Even though the analysis found that people with the highest calcium intake, from food and supplements, had a 22 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer, "the question of calcium supplements is still not resolved," Smith-Warner said.

One reason is that the analysis showed a threshold effect, with the beneficial effect leveling off at a daily intake of 900 milligrams of calcium, roughly the amount in three glasses of milk, she said.

Another is that "some studies suggest that high calcium intake may increase the risk of prostate cancer," Smith-Warner said. "We still need to understand the full range of effects of calcium intake."

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 106,370 new cases of colon cancer and 40,570 new cases of rectal cancer this year, with a combined total of 56,370 deaths.

"The results of this study have brought us closer to understanding how to reduce the risk of this disease," said study co-author Eunyoung Cho, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School .

Calcium is not the only risk factor to be considered, Cho added. Doctors should tell patients that other protective measures are "a healthy lifestyle including exercise, maintenance of body weight and a diet low in red meat and high in fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods."

The study is unlikely to dissuade those who insist that meat and dairy products can lead to cancer. Vegans and groups like the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have contended that these foods can contribute to colon cancer because they contain little to no fiber, which has been shown to be protective against the disease.