Not eating meat could reduce cancer risk according to a new study
A study finds less meat consumption correlates with less chance of developing cancer
Abandoning meat could minimise the risk of developing cancer, according to a new study.
Vegetarians were found to have 14% reduced risk of cancer than regular meat eaters, pescatarians 10% less and 2% for those who eat small amounts of meat.
Compared to regular meat eaters, experts found those who consume less meat had a 9% lower risk of getting bowel cancer, and vegetarian women were 18% less likely to develop postmenopausal breast cancer.
Risk of prostate cancer was 20% lower among male fish eaters but not meat, and 31% lower for male vegetarians.
Eating meat and cancer risk study
University of Oxford researchers analysed gathered data from 472,377 British adults that took part in the UK Biobank study between 2006 and 2010.
Participants were aged between 40 and 70, they were questioned on their dietary habits including how regularly they ate meat or fish.
More than half (52%) ate meat more than five times per week, 44% ate meat five or less times per week, 2% ate fish but not meat, and 2% were vegetarian or vegan.
Their health records were tracked by researchers for up to 11 years to see whether they went on to develop cancer.
55,000 cases of cancer were identified among the participants throughout this time.
The study was published in the BMC Medicine journal and co-funded by World Cancer Research Fund and Cancer Research UK.
Lead researcher Cody Watling, from Oxford Population Health's Cancer Epidemiology Unit, said: "Previous evidence has suggested that vegetarians and pescatarians may have a lower risk of developing cancer, however the evidence for a lower risk of developing specific types of cancer has been inconclusive.
"Being overweight after menopause is known to increase the risk of breast cancer and so the reduced risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in vegetarian women, due to lower BMI, was unsurprising - but we were surprised by the substantially lower risk of prostate cancer in vegetarians."
Dr Giota Mitrou, director of research and innovation at World Cancer Research Fund International, said: "The results of this large, British study suggest that specific dietary behaviours such as low meat, vegetarian or pescatarian diets can have an impact on reducing the risk of certain cancers: in this case bowel, breast and prostate.
"One in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime and while there are lots of things about cancer we cannot control, we know that currently 40% of cancer cases could be prevented through lifestyle changes including diet, weight and physical activity.”
Dr Julie Sharp, head of health and patient information at Cancer Research UK, said: "Maintaining a healthy diet is a great way to lower your risk of cancer and eating less processed meat reduces your risk of bowel cancer, specifically.
"But more research is needed to understand the link between red and processed meat and other cancer types.
"It's more important to have a balanced diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and high fibre foods, like wholegrains and pulses, and low in processed and red meat and foods high in salt, sugar and fat.
"Having some bacon or ham every now and then won't do much harm. 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."
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