Joel Fuhrman - Eat To Live

Eat to Live 89

of many types of cancer in those consuming dairy fat, such as butter

and cheese.^84 Cheese is also a power inducer of acid load, which in-

creases calcium loss further.^85 Considering that cheese and butter are

the foods with the highest saturated-fat content and the major

source of our dioxin exposure, cheese is a particularly foolish choice

for obtaining calcium.

Cow's milk is "designed" to be the perfect food for the rapidly

growing calf, but as mentioned above, foods that promote rapid

growth promote cancer. There is ample evidence implicating dairy

consumption as a causative factor in both prostate and ovarian can-

cer.^86 In April 2000 a Harvard study reported that having 2.5 servings

of dairy each day boosted prostate cancer risk by more than 30 per-

cent.^87 Another recent controlled study conducted in Greece has

shown a strong association between dairy products and prostate can-

cer.^88 By analyzing the data, the authors calculated that if the popu-

lation of Greece were to increase its consumption of tomatoes and

decrease its consumption of dairy products, prostate cancer inci-

dence could be reduced by 41 percent, and an even greater reduction

would be possible in America, where the dietary risk is even higher.

Investigating the link between lactose (milk sugar) and ovarian

cancer among the 80,326 women enrolled in the Nurses Health

Study, Dr. Kathleen Fairfield and her associates reported that women

who consumed the highest amount of lactose (one or more servings

of dairy per day) had a 44 percent greater risk for all types of invasive

ovarian cancer than those who ate the lowest amount (three or

fewer servings monthly). Skim and low-fat milk were the largest

contributors to lactose consumption.^89 Dairy products are just not

the healthiest source of calcium.

Perhaps the strongest argument against dairy products in our

diet: lots of us are lactose-intolerant. Those lactose-intolerant folks,

who don't digest dairy well, are continually barraged with informa-

tion that makes them believe they will lose their bones if they don't

consume dairy products in some way. They may be better off with-

out it.

If you choose to consume dairy, use only fat-free dairy products

and minimize your intake to small amounts. Remember the 90 per-

cent rule: eat 90 percent health-giving whole-plant foods. Dairy may

be a part of that 10 percent; however, it is not essential for good

health and carries potential health risks, especially products contain-

ing dairy fat such as butter and cheese.

You do not need dairy products to get sufficient calcium if you