Often recommended to be in good health and avoid fractures, milk seems, with this new study, to have lost its letters of nobility. Consuming too many dairy products could increase the risk of fractures and early mortality.
The scientists wanted to understand whether a high consumption of milk could be linked to fractures and early mortality.
The researchers analyzed the eating habits of 61,400 women between 1987 and 1990 and of 45,300 men in 1997. The scientists paid particular attention to the consumption of milk and dairy products. These volunteers were followed for 20 years.
Women who drink milk have a higher risk of fracture
The results of the study reveal that women who drank more than three glasses (or 680 ml) of milk per day were more likely to suffer from fractures than those who drank only one glass. And more particularly hip fracture with a 50% increased risk.
Men who drink milk at higher risk of early death
If the men seemed less exposed by the fractures, they had on the other hand more risks of dying prematurely.
“This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that a high consumption of milk would increase the intake of D-Galactose (a molecule which produces lactose, the sugar in milk), leading to oxidative stress, chronic inflammation which would weaken the bones and can even lead to death,” say the authors of the study.
These results seem to confirm a american study from Harvard Medical School published in November 2013 in the medical journal Jama Pediatrics. She questioned the benefits of milk againstosteoporosis and fractures in the elderly. After following 61,000 women and 35,000 men for 22 years, the researchers found that “milk consumption was linked to an increased risk of fracture in men. But not in women. In men, each additional glass of milk increased the risk of hip fracture by 9%.
