The Milk Diet: Lose weight, but increase your cancer risk

People impressed by the milk-only diet adopted by one obese man, who shed 70kg (11 stone) in a year, may want to think twice before they try it.  Taxi driver Adrian Webb weighed 280kg (44 stone) when he was approved for a special diet, which involved drinking 3 litres (5 pints) of milk every day, and no solids.

“I used food as an emotional crutch, but I have a totally different mindset now,” he has told newspapers.

But the diet also dramatically increases the chances of developing colorectal cancer.  A new study, based on 65 years of follow-up, has discovered that a diet rich in dairy products almost triples the chances of developing the cancer.  The risk remained the same, even if the dairy-rich diet was supplemented by fruit and vegetables.

(Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007; 86: 1722-9).

Click here to receive health news by email.