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More evidence that milk from grassfed cows may reduce breast cancer risk

The most common dietary advice given to women who want to lower their risk of breast cancer is to eat less fat. But there is one fat that may prove to be an excellent cancer-fighter—CLA or conjugated linoleic acid. Dairy products from 100 percent grassfed cows are the richest natural source of CLA. In a recent study, Irish researchers extracted CLA from the milk of pastured cows and added minute amounts (20 ppm) to human breast cancer cells that were growing in test tubes. After 8 days, the CLA had killed all but 7 percent of the cancer cells.

Until the 1950s, all dairy cows were raised on pasture. The modern practice of raising animals in confinement and feeding them large amounts of grain lowers the CLA content of the milk and, as a direct result, could be increasing our risk of breast cancer.

(Catherine Stanton et al, "CLA - A Health-Promoting Component of Animal and Milk Fat," The Dairy Products Research Center No. 26. ISBN: 1 84170 118 1)

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