Why does casein cause cancer

Are we really getting answers to really big problems now facing us? I have become deeply troubled by the seemingly endless debates about trivia and misinformation as if we were hearing something profound about life itself. Course dates are approaching fast! Sign up today for the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate. Although I cannot promise how far we can go, I am taking the lead to introduce a series of short bursts of opinions and observations of my own that have arisen from my more than five decades of experimental research, policy development and lecturing.

In the first burst of these items, I will report on some intriguing findings from my own research laboratory early in my career, thus explaining the choices during my research career that I had to make when our questions and hypotheses yielded incomplete answers that demanded still more questions and hypotheses. I often had to choose alternative paths to take, some popular and presumably helpful and hopeful, others more provocative and costly to my credibility and future funding requests.

I hope that these items flowing from my voice and my hand will stimulate some discussion as we go forward. How can the most revered of all nutrients increase the most feared of all diseases? In my laboratory research conducted over a quarter century, funded by taxpayer dollars with findings published in the very best journals, we studied this effect in many ways at a most fundamental, cellular and sub-cellular level as much research as for any other chemical deemed to be a carcinogen.

Thus, these findings do not confirm the suggestion that milk and dairy product consumption causes cancer. It would be more accurate to conclude, based on the findings expressed in the quotes above, that dairy intake leads to a lower risk of some cancers. A meta-analysis is a tool to evaluate findings from more than one study to see their cumulative effect on a condition of interest. Below, I am quoting conclusions from available meta-analyses. I purposely have excluded findings from those meta-analyses that were sponsored by the National Dairy Council since this organization directly benefits from the sale of milk and dairy products, thus, it has a conflict of interest when sponsoring research studies.

The first of these meta-analyses was sponsored by the U. Department of Agriculture. Considering that dairy products are among the best dietary sources of calcium we can conclude that they are associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. In another meta-analysis, authors evaluated the impact of milk and dairy on cancer of the bladder.

The total study population was up to , individuals. Overall, there was no significant association between milk intake and bladder cancer SRRE 0. In addition, no significant association was observed between consumption of dairy products and risk of bladder cancer SRRE 0. Similarly, the number 0. Consistently, the above described findings seem to indicate that milk and dairy may have a protective effect on cancer of the bladder.

This conslusion is especially strong among the Japanese. In yet another meta-analysis, sponsored by The National Institutes of Health, authors evaluated the effect of drinking milk and ingesting dairy products on cancer of the pancreas.

Similarly, intakes of low-fat milk, whole milk, cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and ice-cream were not associated with pancreatic cancer risk. This means that these findings do not support a suggestion that milk causes cancer. Findings from the last meta-analysis summarize the impact of dairy products on cancer of the stomach. There is good evidence that dairy products decrease the risk of bowel cancer. This includes milk and cheese. Dairy products contain proteins and vitamins that are important for your health.

This includes calcium which is important for strong bones. And high calcium content could be one way dairy products decrease bowel cancer risk. Dairy alternatives particularly soya products , can also contain these important proteins and vitamins. Try to choose products with added with added calcium and B Dairy-alternatives have important health benefits.

But we need more research to know for sure if they can also reduce risk of bowel cancer. Low fat, low sugar dairy or dairy-alternatives make up a part of a healthy, balanced diet. There is no strong evidence linking dairy products to any other types of cancer.

Research has not proven whether dairy or calcium has a direct effect on prostate cancer risk. There are some studies that have found an increased risk in people who have large amounts of dairy. And there could be other factors that are different in people who eat and drink a lot of dairy. We need better designed studies to find out more about the potential link.

And remember, eating or drinking some dairy has health benefits. And the NHS Eatwell guide recommends having it as part of a healthy, balanced diet. Try to pick dairy or dairy alternative products that are low in fat and sugar. Read more about recommended daily dairy portions below. There is no good, consistent evidence that milk and dairy products can cause breast cancer. Some studies have found that dairy might increase the risk of breast cancer. Whilst others have found it may decrease breast cancer risk.

There was limited evidence for an association between milk and bladder cancer and insufficient evidence for other types of cancer. Other recent meta-analyses of cohort and case-control studies came to the same conclusions regarding the effects of animal products on prostate cancer [4] , gastric cancer [5] , and colorectal cancer [6].

National Institutes of Health. It is absent from the lists of known and probable human carcinogens provided by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the U. National Toxicology Program. In summary, the claim that the milk protein casein is a cancer-causing substance is unsupported by current scientific studies.

There is no reliable evidence showing that people who consume dairy products or high levels of casein have a higher risk of liver cancer or other types of cancer.