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free tools for patients, expert nutrition advice and information on updated
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Educate your patients on the importance of 3-A-Day of Dairy: Here's
a great
tool (PDF: 618k) to show families how to get their 3-A-Day of Dairy
every day for stronger bones.
Developed in conjunction with The American Academy of Family
Physicians, The American Academy of Pediatrics, The American Dietetic
Association, and The National Medical Association.
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Dairy Council Digest Archives
The Role of Dairy Foods In Colon Cancer Prevention
Summary
Colon cancer, the third most common type of cancer in the U.S., is responsible for more than 56,000 deaths a year. Dietary (e.g., foods, food components) and other lifestyle (e.g., smoking, physical activity) factors are implicated in the development or prevention of this disease.
New clinical findings indicate a protective role for low fat dairy foods against colon cancer in high risk individuals. Specifically, increasing intake of these foods to obtain a total daily calcium intake of about 1500mg reduced the recurrence of adenomatous polyps (precursors of colon cancer). The anticarcinogenic effect of dairy foods may be explained by several dairy food components including calcium, vitamin D, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), sphingolipids, butyric acid, probiotic bacteria (i.e., in fermented and culture-containing dairy foods), protein, and vitamin A. In recent years, potential protective roles for these dairy food components against colon cancer have been demonstrated.
Epidemiological studies link high dietary intake of calcium and/or vitamin D (which enhances calcium absorption) with decreased risk of colon cancer. Other investigations demonstrate that calcium reduces colorectal adenomas, colonic epithelial cell hyperproliferation, and other precursors of colon cancer. Experimental animal studies report that increasing dietary calcium decreases carcinogen-induced tumors. Research indicates that calcium inhibits the cancer-promoting role of high dietary fat by binding soluble fatty acids and bile acids in the colonic lumen to form insoluble calcium complexes. Calcium may also protect against colon cancer by directly inhibiting proliferation and inducing more normal differentiation or apoptosis (cell death) of colonic epithelial cells.
A recent double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in over 900 patients at high risk for colon cancer found that increasing calcium intake by 1200mg/day significantly reduced the recurrence of adenomas. Although the trial lasted four years, a reduction in risk was evident in less than one year.
Dairy foods are an important source of CLA, sphingolipids, and butyric acid, each of which has been demonstrated to inhibit colon cancer or early forms of this disease in experimental animal and in vitro studies. Likewise, probiotic or health-promoting bacteria such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria in fermented and culture-containing dairy foods (e.g., yogurt) may be anticarcinogenic. However, the species and strain of bacteria used in dairy foods, as well as other factors, appear to influence the protective effects of these dairy food components. Experimental animal and in vitro studies both indicate that protein, especially whey, and vitamin A may reduce the risk of colon cancer.
Based on evidence to date, consuming an adequate number of servings of dairy foods to provide at least the recommended intake for calcium for most adults (i.e., 1200mg calcium, equivalent to four servings of milk), and perhaps closer to 1500mg calcium/day (i.e., equivalent to five servings of milk), appears to be a prudent measure to help reduce the risk of colon cancer.
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