Often recommended for good health and to 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 death.
Scientists wanted to understand whether a significant consumption of milk could be linked to fractures and early mortality.
Researchers analyzed the eating habits of 61,400 women between 1987 and 1990 and 45,300 men in 1997. Scientists have particularly focused on the consumption of milk and dairy products. These volunteers were followed for 20 years.
Women who drink milk have a higher risk of fractures
The results of the study show that women who drank more than three glasses (or 680 ml) of milk per day were more likely to have fractures than those who drank only one glass. And more particularly of hip fracture with an increased risk of 50%.
Men who drink milk more at risk of early mortality
While men seemed less exposed to fractures, they were more likely to die prematurely.
“This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that a large consumption of milk would increase the intake of D-Galactose (a molecule that produces lactose, the sugar in milk), leading to oxidative stress, chronic inflammation that would weaken the bone and can even lead to death, ”said 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 monitoring 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% ”.
