Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Dairy consumption is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal, bladder, gastric, and breast cancers, while showing no association with pancreatic, ovarian, or lung cancer, and inconsistent evidence for prostate cancer.
Including dairy in your diet may help protect against colorectal, bladder, gastric, and breast cancers. While the link to prostate cancer is unclear, the protective benefits for other common cancers suggest that dairy is a beneficial part of a healthy diet.
GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Among cancers, milk and dairy intake was inversely associated with colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, gastric cancer, and breast cancer, and not associated with risk of pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, or lung cancer, while the evidence for prostate cancer risk was inconsistent.
Why this rating
Based on multiple meta-analyses and WCRF reports, though some findings are limited or inconsistent.
Source
Milk and dairy products: good or bad for human health? An assessment of the totality of scientific evidence
Tanja Kongerslev Thorning et al. · Food & Nutrition Research · 2016
DOI 10.3402/fnr.v60.32527
narrative_reviewCited 475×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Plant-based drinks are not nutritionally equivalent to cow's milk and should not be recommended as full substitutes without further evidence, as they often lack protein and may contain harmful additives or inorganic calcium.Moderate
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