Is cow's milk as good for us as we thought? Study suggests not
Swedish study questions whether cow's milk is as good for humans as it has been thought to be
Drink lots of milk to strengthen your bones and boost your health, doctors say.
But a study in The BMJ medical journal yesterday said Swedes with a high intake of cows' milk died younger, and women suffered more fractures.
The findings raise questions about milk consumption, although further research was needed, its authors said, as the association may be coincidental.
A Swedish team used data taken from 61,000 women aged 39-74 and monitored for about 20 years, and more than 45,000 men aged 45-79 followed for 11 years.
"Women who consumed three glasses or more per day had a 90 per cent higher risk of death, 60 per cent higher risk of hip fracture and 15 per cent higher risk of any fracture compared with those who drank less than a glass," said co-author Karl Michaelsson of Uppsala University.
For men, the difference in death rate was less pronounced, but there was no difference in fracture rates.