Hello everyone, Monica Reinagle, the nutrition diva here.

Several of you have asked me to offer some perspective on a new study that's been in the news.

Tess wrote to me, a few days ago I heard about a study finding a 70 to 80 percent chance of

breast cancer in women who consume two to three cups of milk a day.

That seems pretty high.

I feel like everyone would have breast cancer,

seeing as the dietary guidelines recommend

two to three cups per day.

What are your thoughts regarding this study? Do you

think we should stop consuming dairy? When I first read her email I wondered if

Tess had misunderstood or maybe just misstated the findings.

But then I found a press release from Loma Linda University

in which they quoted the lead researcher Gary Fraser

as saying that his study provides quote

fairly strong evidence that either dairy milk or some other factor closely

related to drinking dairy milk is a cause of breast cancer in women." He then goes on to say, quote, for those

drinking two to three cups per day the risk increased to 70 to 80 percent.

End quote.

In other words, eight out of every ten women who drink three cups of milk a day will get

breast cancer.

As Tess points out, this doesn't square with reality, does it?

And indeed, that's not even remotely what the study found.

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