Rumor: Rumor has it that milk contains two cancer-promoting substances: insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and tyrosine, which will lead to the proliferation and development of cancer cells.
Truth: Milk carcinogenesis is only a rumor, scientific drinking is king. It is not advisable to go too far or not.
Is IGF-1 Carcinogenic? Milk does contain IGF-1. However, IGF-1 is not a “bad guy” in essence. It is a factor of normal regulation and control of the human body. As long as it is not excessive, it can always be at peace with our human body.
IGF-1 itself is a protein, which enters the intestinal tract after drinking, and most of it will be decomposed by human digestive enzymes. At the same time, the processing process before milk leaves the factory will also lead to inactivation of endogenous IGF-1.
Studies have shown that daily drinking of milk containing IGF-1 will not cause changes in the concentration of IGF-1 in human blood, nor will it directly lead to the occurrence of cancer.
Tyrosine carcinogenic? This misunderstanding stems from a misunderstanding of the experiment done by a scientist named Campbell.
He fed the rats with aflatoxin, a carcinogenic substance. After the rats developed cancer, he fed the rats with two kinds of feeds respectively.
20% of the protein in one feed is glutenin and 20% of the other is tyrosine. The results show that cancer cells in rats taking 20% tyrosine feed grow faster.
As a result, some people interpret milk as promoting the occurrence of cancer.
Not really! There are two main reasons why this experiment has obtained such a result.
- In the experiment, the experimenter has induced cancer with aflatoxin, a carcinogen, which cannot be considered as tyrosine-induced cancer in rats. Campbell himself pointed out that the experiment can only prove that tyrosine may be related to the development of cancer, but it cannot prove that tyrosine can directly cause cancer.
In addition, in the experiment, tyrosine content accounted for 20% of the total protein content in the feed, while according to the data of USDA Nutrition Database, only 0.159 g tyrosine was contained per 100 g of milk.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents, it is recommended that Chinese residents drink 300 g of dairy products per person per day, which contain 0.477 g of protein.
However, the total amount of protein consumed by Chinese residents per day is about 70 g, of which tyrosine in milk accounts for only 7 ‰ of the total amount of protein, that is, each person needs to drink about 9 liters of milk per day to reach the proportion of tyrosine required for the experiment.
Milk Carcinogenesis Is Just Rumor
The study published in the authoritative international magazine < > in 2014 also pointed out that there is no clear evidence that drinking milk increases the risk of cancer.
Milk carcinogenesis is only a rumor, scientific drinking is king. It is not advisable to go too far or too far. Let milk become your [white] to maintain your health.