High prostate cancer risk may be associated with high consumption of calcium from dairy products.

This study was carried out to determine the relationship between the consumption of calcium from dairy products and prostate cancer risk. Using dietary questionnaires, researchers examined the dairy calcium intake of 20885 men drawn from a cohort of male US physicians for 11 years. The serum concentrations of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) {1,25 (OH)(2)D(3)} hormone (a prostate cancer fighting hormone) were measured in all the subjects.

Researchers found out that there was lower plasma concentrations of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) and a 32% higher prostate cancer risk in men who consumed >600 mg Ca/d from dairy products compared to men whose daily calcium intake from dairy foods was