Researchers at the University of Oxford say they have found the strongest evidence yet that calcium protects against the deadly disease.

The team also found that drinking a glass of wine a day increases the risk of developing bowel cancer by 15 per cent.

The experts who carried out the study remind people that they should eat a balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight and, if they smoke, quit smoking – all to reduce their risk of developing bowel cancer. Every year, 44,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with the disease.

The results of their research show that one in twenty women and one in seventeen men in the UK will be diagnosed with bowel cancer in their lifetime.

More than half of such cases are preventable. Scientists claim that 13 per cent of them are caused by consuming processed meat, and 11 per cent by being overweight or obese.

The latest research, published in the journal Nature Communications, examined 97 dietary factors and their impact on the risk of developing bowel cancer in 542,778 women who took part in the Million Women study, a global study of women’s health.

This is one of the largest prospective studies of women’s health in the world. It included more than 1.3 million women in the UK between 1996 and 2001 and has been tracking health outcomes since then.

The study was initiated to provide reliable information on the risks associated with different types of hormone therapy at menopause, but it also aims to provide information on the effects of a number of other factors that could affect women’s health as they age.

During a follow-up period of almost 17 years, 12,251 women developed bowel cancer, with calcium deficiency and alcohol consumption having the strongest effect on the development of changes associated with the development of this type of cancer compared to all other dietary factors examined.

The scientists found that on average an additional 300 mg of calcium per day, which is equivalent to a large 240 ml glass of milk or several cups of yoghurt, resulted in a 17 percent reduction in the risk of developing bowel cancer.

The study also showed that calcium had a similar effect on preventing the development of bowel cancer whether it was consumed from dairy or non-dairy sources, indicating that calcium was the main risk-reducing factor. The study did not examine the effect of calcium supplements.

The researchers said they took into account calcium intake from milk (including that added to tea and coffee), calcium from yoghurt, vegetables and other sources, but the link to cheese products and ice cream was not clearly stated in the study.

However, they argue that there is no particular reason why cheese products and ice cream should not be taken into account. It is possible that the study participants simply did not consume large amounts of these foods.

The researchers also found that 20 grams of alcohol per day (equivalent to a medium glass of wine or half a liter of beer) increases the risk of developing bowel cancer by 15 percent.

The study also confirmed previously known data that processed meat and red meat increase the risk of developing bowel cancer, with consumption of 30 grams of these foods per day being associated with an eight percent increase in risk.

The study’s leader, Dr. Karen Papier, says further research is needed, but notes that “this is the most comprehensive single study to date on the link between diet and the development of bowel cancer, highlighting the protective role of calcium in the potential development of this disease.”

The researchers argue that the protective role of calcium could be related to the ability of the most abundant mineral in the human body to bind to bile acid and free fatty acids in a part of the intestine, thereby reducing their effect on promoting the development of cancer.

Experimental work in rats has also shown that higher levels of calcium in the diet can help protect the structure of the intestine, say scientists from the University of Oxford.

They argue that there is no reason why men should not benefit from calcium as much as women, given that previous studies involving men have shown a similar effect of dairy products on reducing the risk of bowel cancer.