(12-05-13) Prostate cancer linked to high intake of protein and calcium from dairy

by PF Louis

(NaturalNews) The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
(EPICN) is a multicenter meta-epidemiological (broad statistical survey) study
designed to assess cancer risks by investigating past and current relationships
between diet, lifestyle, environmental factors and cancer among a large
population of different EU nations.

EPICN had a pool of 500,000 men and women recruited from 28 centers in 10
European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands,
Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom (UK) for several studies involving
different cancers and groups with different lifestyles and diets.

A UK sub-study isolated 142,251 men from this vast pool, excluding Norway and
France. Both of those nations had only women in the study. The men were
recruited between 1989 and 2004 with a median age of 52, mostly white Europeans
from the eight nations that had men in the EPICN cohort (group of similar
types).

During recruitment, this male group taken from the EPICN required consentual
access to medical records, no history or diagnosis of cancer proven by medical
records, and were able to complete questionnaires on their diet, lifestyle and
medical history.

Men in the top one percent and bottom one percent of the institutionally
recommended caloric intake were excluded from this study in order to remove
wide variances from their statistical analysis.

The UK study
The UK study, "Animal foods, protein, calcium and prostate cancer risk: the
European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition" study was
completed in March 2007 and its paper was published in the British Journal of
Cancer in April 2008.

Animal foods for those in the study included total meat and meat products with
their subcategories, fish and shellfish with their subcategories, and dairy
products, including milk, yoghurt, cheese, and eggs. Food amounts were measured
in grams.

It had already been hypothesized that a high intake of animal protein enhanced
growth hormone activity to increase the risk of prostate cancer. Some non-
clinical studies showed a strong correlation with milk to higher incidents of
prostate cancer with the hypothesis that high calcium intake from dairy
products inhibits the synthesis of vitamin D.

After an average of 8.7 years of follow-up, 2,727 men were diagnosed with
prostate cancer among the 142,520 participants. The UK did not find a direct
association with milk alone to prostate cancer, as other studies seemed to have
suggested.

But they determined that protein from milk products, cheese, yoghurt, and
others was a strong factor among those whose daily consumption exceeded the
recommended daily amount by 35 grams (1.2 ounces) daily.

Calcium from dairy products was associated with prostate cancer risk as well,
but not calcium from other foods. In the researchers' opinion, their results
support the hypothesis that a high intake of protein or calcium from dairy
products may increase the risk for prostate cancer.

Opinion Despite statistical machinations to offset extraneous factors and with
just under a 2 percent prostate cancer outcome among 142,500 men over several
years of monitoring, one wonders how this can be so conclusive.

One may question if dairy products, especially dairy products from raw milk,
increase the risk of prostate cancer. Raw milk dairy product intake was not
considered in this study,

One thing is for certain, this study kept several researchers busily employed
for a few years.

Sources for this study includes:

Complete study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2391107/

Summary http://www.vitasearch.com/get-clp-summary/37471

http://www.healthdiaries.com

News

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