Dairy and prostate cancer: Conflicting information

My husband and I were on Mediterranean diet our whole life because we are coming form that region. We did however use a lot of milk products since we just love all kinds of cheese and we use milk in coffee which we drink in abundance. For me amount of milk would definitely come to a cup a day and much less for my husband since he drinks it with almost zero milk.
I personally don't' know what to think about milk per se. I think it is important to drink organic and pasture fed since added hormones and growth factors definitely do not help anybody that has cancer of any kind. We are now using soy milk for green smoothies, minuscule amount of organic cow milk in coffee, avoid cheese, and make oatmeal with tiny amount of goat milk and mostly water. We did not eliminate milk 100% since even studies said that up to 2/3 of a cup a day seems to be fine.
We also reduced simple sugars and included bunch of supplements while we are waiting for RP in August.
All in all, his PSA went down since January by more tan 2 points (from 7.6 to 5.1 ) and I truly believe that diet and supplements do have an effect.

If you do a deep dive on soy, hold on to your hat because even THAT is controversial as far as PCa goes.
So 2/3 cup of milk is OK, but a cup isn’t? I don’t doubt for a moment that you read that on a reputable site but just think about how far fetched that is…I read a study that said lowfat milk is bad, but lowfat yogurt is OK. I mean, do they even consider the actual person drinking the milk or eating the yogurt??!!
And what about all the wonderful anti-cancer effects of CLA’s in organic grass fed cow’s milk? They don’t count now?
I’m telling you, surfer, all this contradictory nutritional info is starting to sound downright schizoid!!
Phil

I posted this link on another thread. Dairy, per se, potentially induces PC growth because it contains a hormone called IGF-1. Other cancer types benefit from dairy, however. The article is lengthy but not too technical.
https://www.saragottfriedmd.com/does-meat-cause-cancer-revisiting-the-meat-igf-1-and-cancer-connection/?doing_wp_cron=1744654776.7533431053161621093750

My apologies for this late follow-up report on my consultation with a Mayo cancer dietitian on animal-based proteins for prostate cancer patients.

Three weeks ago I had a video conference with a Mayo cancer dietitian to address whether the protein trio of "dairy, eggs and red meat" represented a legitimate concern for prostate cancer patients. His short answer was "yes and no" with the devil being in the details.

The cancer dietitian was aware of the controversy. However, he also acknowledged prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy have significant needs for consuming quality protein sources. So how did he recommend navigating this controversial path? By focusing on minimizing the common thread amongst these three types of quality protein - animal fats.

More specifically, the dietitian asserted his belief that inflammatory omega 6 animal fats are the primary problem for prostate cancer patients. If animal-based proteins were to be selected he encouraged me to consider (1) lower animal fat alternatives and, where available, (2) selecting omega 3 anti-inflammatory animal fats instead of omega 6.

From a practical perspective, if animal sources of protein were selected then he suggested focusing on the following:
- grass raised beef sources (high in omega 3 fats),
- pasture raised chicken eggs (high in omega 3 fats),
- skim milk (no fat),
- whey protein (very little fat).

The cancer dietician liked plant-based protein sources, but noted it's significantly harder to combine plant-based protein sources in a manner that achieves a high quality, complete amino acid protein profile. It can be done, but it's often difficult.

I know BUT, I am sure 2/3 was a "choice" since they probably had people answer to questions like "how much milk do you drink in a day : one cup , more than a cup, less than a cup, none". People that answered "less than a cup" and "none" had similar results so they concluded that "less than a cup" is safe. So what to say to general population - you can drink some milk but less than a cup ? Maybe, but than what is less than a cup ? They decided for practical reasons to choose 2/3. Epidemiologists have to use wording that is understandable to majority of the people. There was no statistical difference between "none" and "less than a cup", so 2/3 it is ; ). You would be surprised how results are interpreted and presented, not to mention "adjusted" *ehem , and talking here from personal experience working in a lab.

Milk vs. yogurt - well, if we take into consideration IGF1 factor that previous poster mentioned than it could be that fermentation changes hormone's structure directly or indirectly by acidifying substrate and make it inactive (hormones are proteins, after all) .

Soy milk - yes, but half of a cup will make no difference effecting hormones.

All in all PSA going down more than 2 points was what proved to me that diet and supplements do have an effect. My husband took PSA test again 2 weeks ago and it is still down. His PSA and free PSA ratio is also MUCH better .

What can I tell you - one has to do their best to stop this beast, all the rest is in god's hands ;), being it all crazy or not.

A 2024 study by a Johns Hopkins Medicine research team concluded the following, regarding a healthy diet and localized PCa:

"The findings suggest that in men diagnosed with GG1 prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance, higher adherence to American dietary guideline recommendations may be associated with a lower risk of grade reclassification, particularly to GG3 or greater disease."
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/2024/10/study-suggests-a-healthy-diet-may-help-keep-low-grade-prostate-cancer-from-progressing-to-more-dangerous-states-during-active-surveillance
I have never found any scientific proof (via a randomized control trial) that implementing any particular dietary change will definitely slow prostate cancer progression.

If someone knows of a randomized control trial that proves a particular dietary change definitely slows PCa progression, I’d like to see it.

All that said, the evidence SUGGESTS a healthy diet may help slow progression, so I say “Sure, why not?”

If one wants a scientifically PROVEN “naturalistic” method to slow PCa progression (as determined via a randomized control trial…the "gold standard" of medical studies) one can look at the ERASE trial.

Its conclusion:

"The ERASE trial demonstrated that HIIT increased cardiorespiratory fitness levels and decreased PSA levels, PSA velocity, and prostate cancer cell growth in men with localized prostate cancer who were under active surveillance."

A link to the full ERASE RCT trial is here:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2783273
I implemented both, resulting in 30 lbs reduction in 3 months, after diagnosis, to a BMI of 22.5.

That was 20 months ago…my 12 month follow up mpMRI showed lesion reversal and my latest PSA level is reduced 25% as compared to my prebiopsy PSA level (from 2 years ago)…

So what has caused the reversal I am seeing after 20 months?

The science would lean heavily in favor of the ERASE trial results, over any particular dietary changes I have made.

All the best!

I know I'm three weeks late commenting on this, but was reading this thread since a friend suggested a vegan diet for PC.
In any case, must comment on your final paragraph about what the cancer dietician said.
I became a vegetarian the same year, 1971, that the book
"Diet for a Small Planet" was published, and it described how to "combine plant proteins" such that you get all the amino acids, basically eating grains and legumes at the same meal. It really isn't all that "difficult", and I'm surprised a dietician, over fifty years later, is espousing that tired trope. There was also a book some fifteen later, also something of a best seller, called "Diet for a New America", and it was noteworthy, as I recall, for showing newer research that revealed that it wasn't actually necessary to consume "all" the amino acids at the same meal; just within the same day was sufficient.
I was for decades a "lacto-ovo" vegetarian, which made protein consumption a no-brainer, in any case. In fact, eggs have the most ideal proportion of amino acids to comprise a complete protein. I've since become a pescatarian (although I prefer to call it "vegequarian"), but if I choose to go purely vegan, I'm absolutely undaunted, and merely need to pay a modicum of attention to the protein issue. I WILL, I must say, quite miss cheese...
Both books, by the way, also stress the point that dairy and meat put a significant strain on Earth's resources, which is another motivating factor.

You know, that’s the single best explanation I’ve heard when it comes to all these dietary taboos.
We live in a total Omega 6 world with seed oils going into many processed foods and animals being fed with high omega 6 grains instead of grasses.
Chickens too are fed mostly crap and hormones - no matter what that label says!- to fatten them up. If you can adhere to your dietician’s advice, I think you’ll be in a good place, enjoying high quality foods and denying yourself nothing.
The Mediterranean diet is really all about QUALITY, freshness and non GMO foods; and olive oil, a big part of that diet, is probably the best fat you can consume- 75% is monounsaturated fats (oleic acid), and very little omega 6 and saturated fats. Portion control is also a huge factor - no ‘supersizing’ in the tavernas or trattorias!
Thanks for the informative post!
Phil

I just came back from my last appointment with the surgeon.
He's happy with everything, so now it's just regular PSA tests.

I took the opportunity to ask about milk increasing the risk of recurrence.
He took about half a second to decide that was rubbish.

Do you have ChatGPT or something similar. Chatgpt lists some studies and recommendations by associations and says that while evidence is evolving high fat dairy should be considered a high caution food. They say low fat dairy has less evidence but should be consumed on moderation. Advise Mediterranean diet.