Does Milk and Dairy Cause Cancer in Blacks?

The Dairy Industry Markets Milk to Blacks

Federal nutritional standards do not take into account the differing dietary calcium needs of the  diverse ethnic groups that comprise this nation.  Rather, the USDA has calculated  the biological needs of European-Americans and now operates on the presumption that this one population group should speak for the entire human species. 

This mindset has created a serious problem for African-Americans.  While Whites have the highest rates of osteoporosis and fragile bone diseases, Blacks have the lowest.  This is so even though African-Americans consume 30% less calcium on account of lactase non-persistence (lactose intolerance).  Bone health is the most accurate means of gauging a particular ethnic population's calcium needs. Blacks have strong skeletal structures because their bodies possess certain genetic variants that metabolize calcium more efficiently than other groups.  The TRPV6 calcium ion channel in humans absorbs dietary calcium through the intestinal walls.  However, the African TRPV6a variant of this gene is 25-50% more calcium absorbent than the non-African TRPV6b variant.  Thus populations carrying the TRPV6a variant require less calcium in their diets, because a larger percentage will be absorbed for the body's biological needs.

This genomic advantage for people of West African descent, whose ancestors lived on 200-400 mg. calcium/day is now having a devastating effect on African-Americans.  The reason is that they consume 2 to 4 times more calcium than their ancestors and the over-consumption of calcium triggers an aggressive class of cancers, which includes metastatic prostate cancer, triple negative breast cancer, ovarian and colorectal cancer.   The mortality rate for Blacks is more than twice that of Whites for these particular malignancies.  My research calculates that African-Americans should be consuming closer to 600 mg/calcium in order to reduce their cancer risk.

The situation for Black females is even more critical.  White women suffer high rates of osteoporosis and as a consequence all American females are given the same public health  message. It is that they should supplement their calcium intake in order to reduce the risk of fragile bones as they age.   But alas,  African-American women are dying of "TRPV6-expressing" cancers, triggered by a hypersensitivity to excess calcium.

Some of these facts are explained in a video clip released by the University of North Texas. If you would like to know more about this subject, I would be glad to send you a copy of my latest article (send your request to connie@unt.edu).