--- title: Drinking Milk Is Linked to Parkinson’s Disease: Study description: A new study finds an intriguing link between contaminants found in milk and the risk of developing the brain disorder canonical: https://time.com/4143358/milk-parkinsons-disease-pesticides/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-09T21:04:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:44.708Z article:section: Health og:title: Drinking Milk Is Linked to Parkinson’s Disease: Study og:description: A new study finds an intriguing link between contaminants found in milk and the risk of developing the brain disorder og:url: https://time.com/4143358/milk-parkinsons-disease-pesticides/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5156fc42497040/698874b1e20a875cb5a8e938/gettyimages-128419532.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4114 og:image:height: 2314 og:image:alt: 128419532 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Drinking Milk Is Linked to Parkinson’s Disease: Study twitter:description: A new study finds an intriguing link between contaminants found in milk and the risk of developing the brain disorder twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5156fc42497040/698874b1e20a875cb5a8e938/gettyimages-128419532.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Drinking Milk Is Linked to Parkinson’s Disease: Study > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Should I Drink Nonfat Half-And-Half? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Drink Nonfat Half-And-Half?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OXuvbc41.m3u8) (1:28)  _Published 2015-04-16. Whether you're wondering about the health benefits (or harms) of fat-free half-and-half, or simply wondering what it is, here's why all five of our health experts this week warned against it._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Dec 9, 2015 9:04 PM UTC  Spraying pesticide on pineapple field, Oahu, HI Spraying pesticide on pineapple field, Oahu, HI Gary Hofheimer—Getty Images  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Dec 9, 2015 9:04 PM UTC Studies have found a connection between the consumption of dairy products and a higher risk of developing Parkinson disease, the neurodegenerative disorder that affects motor neurons in the brain. While researchers speculated that chemicals found in cows’ milk might be responsible, there was little evidence to detail how dairy products like milk and cheese might be affecting people’s risk of the disease. Now, scientists may have uncovered a promising clue. Reporting in the journal _Neurology_, Robert Abbott, from Shiga University of Medical Science in Japan, and his colleagues took advantage of an environmental scandal in Hawaii in the 1980s to investigate the connection. At the time, an organochlorine pesticide used by pineapple farmers made its way into the milk supply when cows were fed a gruel made in part from the pineapple debris. Coincidentally, there was also a study of heart disease among Japanese-American men begun then that involved more than 8,000 men who were followed from mid-life to death. All provided detailed information about what they ate, including how much milk they drank, and some agreed to donate their brains for research upon death. **MORE:** [Diabetes Drugs May Offer Hope for Parkinson’s Disease Treatment](http://time.com/3967611/diabetes-parkinsons-disease/) Abbott and his team studied 449 brains and recorded the density of neurons in specific areas of the brain known to be affected by Parkinson’s. They found that men who reported drinking more than two glasses of milk a day (16 oz) showed the thinnest nerve networks in these areas, suggesting compromised function of these nerves, compared to men who drank little or no milk. The milk drinkers also had residues of specific organochlorines called heptachlor epoxide. Interestingly, by measuring when cells in motor nerve regions died, they also learned that the accumulation of heptachlor epoxide occurred before the cells were damaged, strongly hinting that the chemical was responsible for triggering the changes associated with Parkinson’s. **MORE:** [Taking Care: An Intimate Look at How Parkinson’s Disease Has Changed 1 Family’s Life](http://time.com/3593442/parkinsons-disease-caregiving/) Abbott says that he and his team did not have samples of the milk the men drank, so can’t say for sure that the contaminated milk was the source of the pesticides they found in the mens’ brains, but it’s a reasonable explanation. “We don’t have all the data yet, but we are close to finding the smoking gun here,” he says. “It’s not complete, but it’s very suspicious.” Heptachlor epoxide is no longer used as an insecticide in the U.S. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “nearly all registered uses of heptachlor epoxide have been canceled.” But it tends to be persistent, remaining in soil and water for many years. Abbott also notes that it’s been found in goat and cow milk in Ethiopia and that other organochlorines have been detected in the milk supply in Italy. **MORE:** [Here’s Which Produce Has the Most Pesticides](http://time.com/3721985/produce-pesticides/) The data certainly don’t mean that anyone who drinks several cups of milk a day is putting themselves at risk of developing Parkinson’s. What it does mean is that diet and lifestyle risk factors should be considered more deeply. “This adds to the literature that diet may indeed play a role in Parkinson’s,” says Abbott. “But it also tells us that there is more to food than just its nutritional value. There’s contamination, and what’s on that food.” For now, there’s no reasons to stop drinking milk. (“I drink a cup of milk every day,” says Abbott.) But he hopes his findings fuel the continued careful look at how chemicals in the environment might be affecting our health, even in indirect and not always obvious ways. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Should you drink fat free half and half? We put that question to Doctor David Katz. His response? Hell no, what is that? Unfortunately, that response was echoed by all five of our experts this week. Half and half math is simple. It's whole milk plus cream. But the fat free version requires some more advanced calculations. Julie Zumpano says that milk fat is typically replaced by corn syrup and thickeners. Kristi King agrees that the real thing is better than all those additives. It might have half the calories as regular half and half, but it also has about twice the sodium and sugar. It exists, of course, because people want the rich texture and flavor. Plus calcium benefits without the fat or calories. But our full fat dairy phobia is misguided. Mario Kratz researches dairy. His findings might sound shocking. Full fat dairy might actually be healthier for you than non- fat dairy, especially when it comes to things like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even weight gain. That not chugging a carton of regular half and half is a good idea. Just that drinking the non fat version might be a worse one. Andrew Weil says that milk contains natural sex hormones. And that making it non fat seems to mess up the balance between male and female hormones in the milk. 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