Vegetarians have a 14 percent lower chance of developing cancer than carnivores, a large study that links meat-eating to a heightened risk of the disease said.
A team of researchers from the University of Oxford analyzed data on more than 470,000 Britons and found that pescatarians had a 10 percent reduced risk.
Compared with people who eat meat regularly — defined as more than five times a week — those who consumed small amounts had a 2 percent lower risk of developing cancer, the study found.
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“In this large British cohort, being a low meat-eater, fish-eater or vegetarian was associated with a lower risk of all cancer sites when compared to regular meat-eaters,” the analysis found.
However, the authors, led by Cody Watling from Oxford’s population health cancer epidemiology unit, made clear that their findings did not conclusively prove regular meat-eating increased the risk of cancer.
Smoking and body fat could also help explain the differences found, they said.
Their UK Biobank study also found that:
‧ Low meat-eaters — who consume meat five or fewer times a week — had a 9 percent lower risk of developing bowel cancer than regular meat-eaters.
‧ Vegetarian women were 18 percent less likely than those who ate meat regularly to develop postmenopausal breast cancer, though that might be due to their lower body mass index.
‧ Vegetarian men have a 31 percent lower risk of prostate cancer, while among male pescatarians it is 20 percent lower.
The results “suggest that specific dietary behaviors such as low meat [and] vegetarian or pescatarian diets can have an impact on reducing the risk of certain cancers; in this case bowel, breast and prostate,” said Giota Mitrou, director of research and innovation at World Cancer Research Fund International, which cofunded the study with Cancer Research UK.
The results confirm the fund’s longstanding advice that people should limit their intake of red and processed meat, and eat more wholegrains, vegetables, fruit and pulses, she added.
“The lower risk of colorectal [bowel] cancer in low meat-eaters is consistent with previous evidence suggesting an adverse impact of meat intake,” the Oxford study authors said.
“It is not clear whether the other differences observed for all cancers and for prostate cancer reflect any causal relationship or are due to other factors,” they said.
While the researchers found that “being a low meat-eater, pescatarian or vegetarian was associated with a lower risk of all cancer,” they added that this “may be a result of dietary factors and/or non-dietary differences in lifestyle, such as smoking.”
Their results were published yesterday in the journal BMC Medicine.
“This study adds to a growing body of research reinforcing the positive, protective effects of a vegetarian diet,” Vegetarian Society chief executive Richard McIlwain said.
“With cancer now affecting one in every two of us across the country, adopting a healthy vegetarian diet can clearly play a role in preventing this disease. Indeed, evidence from previous surveys suggests a balanced vegetarian diet can also reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes, in addition to cancers,” he said.
Watling and his colleagues are undertaking further research among vegetarians, pescatarians and vegans to examine more closely the relationship between diet and cancer risk.
Between 5 and 7 percent of Britons are thought to be vegetarian, and 2 to 3 percent follow a vegan diet, according to surveys by YouGov.
While reducing intake of processed meat has been proven to reduce the risk of bowel cancer, “having some bacon or ham every now and then won’t do much harm,” said Julie Sharp, Cancer Research UK’s head of health and patient information.
“If you are having a lot of meat a lot of the time then cutting down is a good idea, but a vegetarian diet doesn’t always mean someone is eating healthily,” she added
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