Eating dairy products like milk and cheese doesn’t seem to make breast cancer come back or kill more women from breast cancer, but people who eat a lot of dairy tend to die sooner from other causes — probably because of the fat in dairy, not the dairy itself.

Eating dairy doesn’t seem to make breast cancer come back or kill more women from breast cancer, but it might make people more likely to die from other causes — and that’s probably because of the fat in dairy, not dairy itself.

Eating dairy overall doesn’t seem to make breast cancer come back or kill more women from breast cancer, but it might be linked to dying from other causes — and that’s probably because the bad stuff (like full-fat dairy) is hiding in the average.

If you’ve had early-stage breast cancer, switching from full-fat dairy like whole milk or cheese to low-fat versions won’t make your cancer come back or shorten your life — so you don’t have to stress about this change.

For women who’ve had breast cancer, eating a lot of full-fat dairy like whole milk, cheese, or butter might raise their risk of dying from other health problems like heart disease or diabetes—not from the cancer coming back.

If you’ve had early-stage breast cancer, switching from full-fat dairy like whole milk or cheese to low-fat versions won’t make your cancer come back or shorten your life — so you don’t need to stress about this change.