A glass of milk a day reduces the risk of colorectal cancer

Drink a 2.5 dl glass of milk per day. It would not take more to reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer by 17%, one of the most common in the world. According to a British study carried out on 540,000 women over 17 years and published in “Nature”, this protective effect is linked to the calcium contained in dairy products.

In this case, 300 mg daily is sufficient. “Calcium was found to have a similar effect in dairy and non-dairy sources, suggesting that it was the main factor responsible for reducing risk,” explains Dr. Keren Papier, lead author of the study and nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Oxford.

A priori, it would therefore be possible to benefit from this protection also in the case of a vegan diet, provided that it is rich in vegetables containing calcium: legumes, nuts such as walnuts, cereal products, certain leafy vegetables. (cabbage, spinach, broccoli, etc.), sardines, seafood and certain mineral waters (Adelbodner, Hépar, Contrex).

The British researchers note, however, that the protective effect could only be demonstrated for calcium contained in food, the benefits of food supplements having not been included in their work. But a meta-analysis published in 2018 demonstrated that consuming 300 mg of calcium per day in tablet form is less effective since it reduces the risk of colorectal cancer by 9%.

Conversely, the study confirms the deleterious influence of alcohol, processed products and red or smoked meat on the digestive system, already demonstrated by previous work. They concluded that daily consumption of 100 grams of red or processed meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 29%.

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