Many studies, including a 2009 paper available in the National Institutes of Health library, have concluded that consumption of dairy products may be linked to breast cancer.
1. “Casein, which makes up 87% of cow’s milk protein, promoted all stages of the cancer process,” says Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of the well-regarded book, The China Study.
2. Several epidemiological studies have indicated a relationship between dairy consumption and breast cancer risk in pre-menopausal women (Outwater, 1997).” -Breast Cancer Fund.
3. “It appears that when individuals do not have the correct enzymes to metabolize many of the hormones naturally found in any type of cow’s milk, a glass of milk can flood the body with excess estrogen. This raises the risk of developing or accelerating the growth of existing breast cancer.” -Susan Wadia-Ells, Founding Director of
Knowbreastcancer.net.
4. “Some dairy products, such as whole milk and many types of cheese, have a relatively high saturated fat content, which may increase risk. Moreover, milk products may contain contaminants such as pesticides, which have carcinogenic potential, and growth factors such as insulin-like growth factor I, which have been shown to promote breast cancer cell growth.” -The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
5. “While scientists are hard at work searching for specific breast cancer-fighting compounds, the safest approach is to apply what we already know: Diets that are highest in a variety of plant foods and stay away from heavy oils, meat, and dairy products, help prevent a great many diseases.” -Dr. Neal Barnard, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
6. Some nutritionists confirm the doctors’ findings. One of them, Phil Richards, writes that “the connection between casein and cancer was so profound in rat experiments that the scientists could literally turn cancer growth on and off in the laboratory animals, like a light switch, simply by altering the level of casein protein in their diets.” Specifically, “consuming dairy products is linked to an increased risk for breast cancer as dairy products are high in fat, animal protein, and hormones, each of which increases cancer risk. Since the 1980’s, study after study has linked dairy consumption to a high incidence of breast and other cancers.”
Healthy alternatives to dairy include plant-based sources such as flax, hemp, nut, and rice milk.
March 13, 2017
Hi,
Here you are talking about Casein causing breast Cancer.
What about men who eats this protein? would they suffer from any effect?
I think it’s important to talk about that side too, because it’s not only women who are involved.
Thanks
May 26, 2018
Here is a video from Nutrition Facts by Dr. Greger that shows the effects of dairy on prostate cancer. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/prostate-cancer-and-organic-milk-vs-almond-milk/
August 13, 2016
This is a great story for years I have been trying to spread the message about the dangers of our high protein diet.
Not only on human health but on the health of our entire eco system as we know have immense amount of evidence proving that methane is another greenhouse gas wreaking havoc on earths atmosphere…
July 15, 2016
my grandparents had milk straight from the cows and they didn’t die from cancer…..
December 18, 2016
And my step grandmother lived to 90 and smoked, so smoking doesn’t cause cancer and must even increase lifespan ? Just silly. You can cross the street with your eyes closed and survive if you are lucky too, but why take the chance?
June 14, 2016
Thank You and keep spreading the oil-free WFPB diet message.
February 20, 2015
I got this site from my friend who told me about it. Love the content – very needed for our current state of health – thanks for the good work.
December 13, 2014
Many people i know consume a casein protein powder shake or cottage cheese before bed for the slower digesting protein. Is there a plant based alternative that would act in the same way allowing the body to be ‘fed’ while we sleep?
January 8, 2015
@ Jim – although consuming protein before bed is completely unnecessary, there are definitely plant based protein powders, one of the most popular being the Vega brand.
April 26, 2014
The Weston A. Price Foundation have been heavy advocates of the meat and dairy industries and promoters of clearly irresponsible and potentially dangerous ideas, including:
Butter and butter oil are “super foods” that contain the “X factor” discovered by Weston Price.
Glandular organ extracts from animals promote the health and healing of the corresponding human organs.
Poached brains of animals should be added to other ground meats for better nutrition.
Raw cow’s milk and meat broth should be fed to newborns who don’t breast-feed, rather than infant formula.
Regular ingestion of clay (Azomite Mineral Powder) has detoxifying effects because the clay particles remove pathogens from the body.
There are benefits to feeding sea salt to infants and babies.
Fruits and vegetables should be limited in children’s diets.
I would strongly recommend “M” to research the sources he/she is citing to avoid broadcasting dangerous messages that get people confused and those that believe it, sick.
There’s plenty of information available online. Here’s a link to Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s blog.
http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/diet-myths-deadly-dietary-myths.html
July 30, 2013
Great article, Margarita. These are the facts that women need to know in order to prevent (or reverse) breast cancer. Instead we are told to get annual mammograms for early detection and treatment. If women knew they could prevent breast and other cancers by setting aside the dairy they would be open to this simple, dietary approach to staying cancer-free.
July 30, 2013
Thank you Mimi, great hearing from you. I know… :( It’s very sad to know that all these procedures instead of helping do tremendous damage. We’ll be covering some better procedures for cancer detection and testing in an upcoming issue. Plant-based nutrition is definitely the way to go for prevention and reversal. Much health to you and come back and visit us often! XO
September 5, 2013
I am certainly not here to argue against the tremendous benefits of plant-based diets in terms of reducing risk of cancer and overall health. However, I think its important to be careful with misleading statements like “If women knew they could prevent breast and other cancers by setting aside the dairy…”
It would be great if was simply eliminating dairy would somehow guarantee that we would all remain cancer free, but unfortunately we know that is far from the truth.
Some additional perspective on China Study can be found here: http://www.westonaprice.org/vegetarianism-and-plant-foods/the-china-study-myth
Good luck and good health.
December 18, 2016
Please don’t reference the Weston Price group for ANY reliable information! Sally Fallon should be named Sally Felon for appropriating and bastardizing Price’s principles and turning it into her agenda. Dangerous stuff.
July 29, 2013
Thanks for including this valuable article in your new publication Naked Food Magazine and good luck as you move forward. I hope you will reach out to Jane Plant, Ph.D for comments and/ or an article. I did a review of her book, Your Life in Your Hands: Understanding and Overcoming Breast Cancer for Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine a few years ago. Dr. Plant is considered to be one of the UK’s most prominent scientists. She was diagnosed with recurring breast cancer and after undergoing all of the traditional medical and surgical approaches she was told by her physician that she should get her affairs in order as she only had about 2 months to live. She would not accept the prognosis and after reading the research like Dr. Campbell reports on in The China Study and the low incidence of breast cancer she assumed a vegan diet. Within 6 weeks the cancer was gone!
April 4, 2020
@Dr. Johnson, thanks for comments. As far as diet is concerned many people are close minded probably because they love the flavor that can only be derived from flesh foods and will grasp on to anything that say it is harmless to their health and that it may even be beneficial to their health! For those people no amount of data will convince them like the author of this article and many of the commenters. I appreciate you comments even though it is an anecdotal evidence that supports the China Study, it encourages me that my decision to go WFPB is the right thing for me. Others can disagree but it is their prerogative to continue in the flesh foods. So whatever the outcome of our choices, we will reap what we sowed.