Got milk? (we've got mail).(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)

I am a biologist with an interest in the application of food and supplement nutrition for disease prevention and health and longevity promotion. I am writing about some concerns about an article in your December 2001 issue.

On page 16 you state, "According to the study in the International Journal of Cancer, women who drank milk as children and who currently drink three glasses of milk a day had half the rate of breast cancer compared to women not drinking milk. They looked at the relationship between childhood and adult milk consumption with breast cancer incidence in over 48,000 women."

You further state, "`The results are consistent with other scientific evidence that has shown animal products, including milk, contain factors that may inhibit the cancer process,' said John Miller, Ph.D., chief of the Nutritional Science Research Group in the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute. `Some of the possible anti-cancer factors found in milk and other animal products include calcium, vitamin D and CLA,' he says. CLA or conjugated linoleic acid has been gaining attention as a ...