Dairy-eaters may be at a higher risk of liver, breast cancer and lymphoma, according to a new study.
The study which involved researchers from the University of Oxford took place over an 11-year period and of the half-a-million participants, some 30,000 between the ages of 30 to 79 developed cancer.
The study accounted for a range of factors that can affect cancer risk on top of dairy, including age, sex, family medical history and weight.
It appears a correlation was found between dairy intake and common types of cancer.
The findings were published in BMC Medicine and claimed for each 50g per day intake that the risk of liver cancer increased by 12% and the risk of breast cancer increased by 17%.
The study states "higher dairy intake was associated with higher risks of liver cancer, female breast cancer and, possibly, lymphoma."
While the study suggested that there may have been higher odds of lymphoma, the results were not "not statistically significant".
It also added a caveat, saying that the half-a-million Chinese adults involved in the study have a "relatively lower dairy consumption than Western populations".
In the study, one in five participants said that they ate dairy at least once a week while the rest (70%) claimed that they never ate it according to questionnaires.
The first author and Nutritional Epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health, Dr Maria Kakkoura said that “This was the first major study to investigate the link between dairy products and cancer risk in a Chinese population.
“Further studies are needed to validate these current findings, establish if these associations are causal, and investigate the potential underlying mechanisms involved.”
The study found no correlation with prostate cancer, despite another paper published in Epidemiological Reviews finding evidence that dairy may double your chances of developing the condition.
While more research is needed to further uncover correlations between dairy and cancers, Associate Professor Huaidong Du, one of the senior co-authors has said "It would not be prudent to reduce dairy consumption based solely on the results from the current study or without ensuring adequate intake of protein, vitamins and minerals from other sources."
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