Dairy Produce and Cancer
Dr Vernon Coleman
Cancers which are caused by hormones (such as breast and prostate cancer) are much, much commoner in western countries than in poorer countries. The difference is in the diet. Meat (particularly fatty meat) is one of the major dietary factors but dairy produce is also an important factor in the development of hormone related cancers.
A few years ago, people in China obtained most of their calories from carbohydrates and ate very little animal protein and relatively little fat. The Chinese had a very low rate of breast and prostate cancer. Over recent years as the Asian diet has become more westernised, with fatty burgers becoming popular, the incidence of those two cancers in China has risen dramatically.
Stop Feeding Your Cancer by Dr John Kelly is a good, optimistic book. Dr Kelly’s thesis is that patients who have cancer can at best cure themselves or at worst dramatically improve their odds of surviving if they stop eating animal proteins. Dr Kelly’s enthusiasm for this method of combatting cancer was triggered by a book called The China Study, written by Professor T.Colin Campbell in 2005. Professor Campbell argues that the main protein found in cow’s milk and other dairy products, a substance called casein, could be regarded as a Category 1 carcinogen.
The importance of diet has without a doubt been suppressed by people driven by a toxic mixture of self-interest, prejudice, laziness and greed. It is sad that many oncologists still fail to understand the importance of avoiding dairy produce.
Cancer is far more indiscriminate than any of us would like to think. It doesn’t obey any rules and it doesn’t behave as we might like it to behave but The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has published a Lifestyle and Breast Cancer Risk which points out that diet and lifestyle may play a role both in the development of breast cancer and its recurrence. They suggest that the key to avoiding both of these eventualities is achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight, eating a balanced, mostly plant based diet, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep and, pretty obviously, not smoking or drinking too much alcohol.
The story of Professor Jane Plant is worth telling. Professor Plant had breast cancer and in 1993 she was found to have a cancerous lump in her neck. She had previously had extensive surgery and radiotherapy. Remembering that the Chinese had a very low incidence of breast and prostate cancer, she changed her diet from a western one to an eastern one; specifically cutting out dairy produce. The incidence of breast and prostate cancer is significantly lower in those countries where the consumption of dairy produce is low. She had a very poor prognosis. After being given two to three months to live in 1993 she changed her eating habits and lived until 2016.She was 71 when she died. There seems little doubt that the change in her diet dramatically improved her life.
Taken from Vernon Coleman’s book `What doctors won’t tell you about chemotherapy’ which is available via the bookshop on www.vernoncoleman.com or you can buy it by Clicking Here
Copyright Vernon Coleman February 2025
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