Eating yogurt every day reduces risk of bladder cancer, study finds

Eating yogurt every day could cut the risk of developing bladder cancer by up to 40 per cent, according to a new study.

Scientists found that those who ate two servings a day were significantly less likely to go on to have the disease than those who ate yogurt only occassionally or not at all.

No benefit was found from regularly eating other dairy products, the study found.

The scientists behind the research believe that bacteria in yogurt could help to fight disease.

The study, by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, followed 80,000 patients over nine years.

Asked about their diet, those who went on to develop bladder cancer were less likely to have eaten yogurt regularly than those who remained cancer free, the scientists said.

According to the findings, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a couple of yogurts a day reduced the risk of developing the disease in women by 45 per cent and in men by 36 per cent.

"Cultured milk products, such as yogurt, contain lactic acid bacteria, which have been shown to suppress bladder cancer in rats," according to the report.

"Our research suggests a high intake (of yogurt in humans) may reduce the risk."

People who eat yogurt regularly could also be more health conscious generally and likely to look after their body better than others.

Half of all cases of bladder cancer in men and a third of those in women are caused by smoking and experts agree that quitting can significantly reduce the risk of developing the disease.

Around 10,000 people in Britain are diagnosed with the disease every year.

Although it can be treated, left undetected it can spread to other parts of the body.