Lucky to be lactose intolerant

People with lactose intolerance are at lower risk of suffering from lung, breast and ovarian cancers, according to a new study in British Journal of Cancer. 

There are large differences in the incidence of breast and ovarian cancers between different countries. Their incidence is highest in North America, Western Europe and the Nordic countries, and lowest in East Asia and Central African countries. Lifestyle factors such as high consumption of milk and other dairy products have been suspected to contribute to the high incidence of breast and ovarian cancers in North America and Western Europe.

In 22,788 individuals with lactose intolerance, the risk of lung cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer were significantly lower in people with lactose intolerance compared to people without lactose intolerance, irrespective of country of birth and gender. By contrast, the risks in their siblings and parents were the same as in the general population. This suggests that the lower cancer risk in people with lactose intolerance may be due to their diet.

Bonnie: While the researchers do not have a hypothesis for why this result was found, I do.

1) Dairy products activate insulin like growth factor in humans, which put cell creation on overdrive. Healthy cells, as well as rogue cells, can be accelerated.

2) Dairy products, especially conventional, are chock full of hormones and antibiotics, which can be carcinogenic.

3) Dairy products are inflammatory. Cancer is an inflammatory condition.