Drinking milk

[RobinP]

I have never been a big milk drinker but after bc, I ingest even less milk products, fearing the hormones in milk. See link below. RobinP

Drinking milk

There have been a number of claims that the consumption of cows' milk can increase the risk for breast cancer. There are several issues to consider. [list]<LI class=content>There is some evidence that drinking milk with a high fat content may increase the risk of breast cancer, but this is thought to be due to the link between obesity and breast cancer as drinking skim milk seems to protect against cancer. <LI class=content>Certain chemicals and pesticides, some of which have been shown to cause cancer, do show up as contaminants in both cows' milk and human milk. At this time there is no strong evidence to link these chemicals with increased risk for breast cancer, although this cannot be excluded. In Australia the levels of these contaminants in milk products is subject to testing and regulation. <LI class=content>An argument is made that cows treated with bovine growth hormone (BST) have increased levels of a chemical called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in their milk, and high blood levels of IGF-1 in humans have been linked with breast and prostate cancers. However it is not known if IGF-1 found in cows' milk can affect humans. More importantly, the use of BST is currently banned in Australia. [*]Additional claims that oestrogen in cows' milk can affect women's breast tissue and cause cancer or that other, unspecified, milk compounds can cause oestrogen release in women have not been substantiated.