The lesson of course
is that certain proteins in cow’s milk naturally inhibit cancer and breast
cancer in particular. Besides the
benefit of having cow’s milk in your diet, the other lesson is that these are
benefits associated with whey, which has steadily been converted into a usable
food source these past decades.
In fact it is likely
high time to draw the loose ends together on whey and see were we presently are
at.
We are a long way from
merely recognizing the importance of vitamins, and I am old enough to recall a
little of the surprise that produced as it spread out and became accepted. We are more and more appreciating the use of
a range of complex proteins in our diets and whey happens to be an excellent
source.
By News Editor
Posted: December 28, 2010
Scientists have found that lactoferrin, a whey protein found in milk,
could be an anticancer agent for breast cancer. Lactoferrin is an iron-binding
protein that has been reported to inhibit several other types of cancer.
According to a study that will be published in the January 2011 issue
of the American Dairy Science Association’s Journal of Dairy Science,
scientists in Portugal found that breast cancer cells treated with lactoferrin
decreased the cancer cells’ viability by 47-54 percent and decreased the growth
rates of the cancer cells by 40-64 percent.
“There is overwhelming evidence that biologically active food
components are key environmental factors affecting the incidence of many
chronic diseases,” says Lígia Raquel Rodrigues, author of the study. “However,
because the full extent of such components in our diet isn’t known, nor is the
understanding of their mechanisms of action, we undertook this study for a
closer look.”
While additional studies will be needed to establish a clear role for
lactoferrin as a potential tool in fighting breast cancer, the results from
this study suggest that lactoferrin interferes with some of the most important
steps involved in cancer growth.
