Eating your fruits and vegetables is well known to be helpful in preventing various types of cancer. A new twist on cancer prevention has now been found by increasing your consumption of dairy products! A recent study suggests that milk and yogurt may play an important role in reducing the incidence of primary liver cancer, known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is the most serious complication of chronic hepatitis B.

Italian researchers, led by Dr. Renato Talamini, studied a group of HCC patients and a control group without cancer and had them complete an in-depth nutritional survey. He discovered a significant inverse relationship between intake of certain foods and HCC risk. That is, those who had consumed a lot of milk and yogurt products had a lower risk of primary liver cancer or HCC. The researchers observed that the findings also held good for patients with hepatitis B and C.

These encouraging results are especially welcome news since liver cancer is the fastest growing cancer in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. While other types of cancers have decreased, liver cancer is now the fifth most common cancer in the world, and ranks eighth among leading causes of cancer death for Americans.

So, as you eat more fruits and vegetables to reduce your overall risk of cancer, be sure you “got milk” in your daily diet as well!