A new study reveals that milk and dairy products help protect against colorectal cancer, mainly because of their calcium content.

Researchers from the University of Oxford Wednesday published an article in Nature Communications, revealing the inverse association between consumption of milk and risk of developing bowel cancer.

They analyzed the relationships between 97 dietary factors and the risk of colorectal cancer in 542,778 women participants, which included 12,251 incident cases over 16.6 years.

Conducting a targeted genetic analysis, researchers found that consumption of alcohol and milk showed the most significant associations, followed by six dairy-related factors linked to calcium.

Genetically predicted milk consumption was found to be negatively associated with the risk of colorectal, colon, and rectal cancers. Besides, higher consumption of alcohol and processed meat was associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

The study concluded that dairy products offer protective benefits against colorectal cancer, primarily due to their calcium content.

Colorectal cancer is the third most prevalent cancer globally, with an estimated 1.9 million new cases reported in 2022, according to the study.

Incidence rates are higher in high-income areas like Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, and lower in low-income regions such as Africa and South Asia.

Researchers pointed out that the rates in areas with lower incidence seem to be rising.