Eating a lot of full-fat dairy like cheese and butter might be linked to a higher chance of dying from cancers other than breast cancer — and it could be because it harms your heart or metabolism, not just because it feeds cancer.

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 breast cancer, eating a lot of full-fat dairy like whole milk, cheese, or butter might make you more likely to die from any cause — including things other than cancer — compared to eating only small amounts.

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.

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.

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.