Go veggie to avoid cancer: Research

For certain types of cancers, like leukemia, bladder and stomach cancer, the risk is more pronounced for carnivores. Fresh research concludes that vegetarians are 45 percent less likely to develop cancer of the blood.

Conformity to previous research
The study examined 61,000 people, aged between 20 and 89, for over 12 years.

During the course of the study, 3,350 people were diagnosed with cancer. Out of these 68 percent of the participants were carnivorous and another 9.5 percent ate fish but did not consume any meat. About a quarter of the participants that were diagnosed with cancer were pure vegetarians.

The study controlled factors like obesity, alcoholism, smoking and lifestyle to negate their impact on the results.

The findings of the study conform to previous research that highlights the importance of shunning meat. It is for this reason that the findings were not completely astounding.

Reason still unclear
The study could not establish the cause of the correlation between meat eating and cancer risk.

Co-author Naomi Allen, from the Cancer Research UK epidemiology unit at Oxford University, said, “Previous research has found that processed meat may increase the risk of stomach cancer, so our findings that vegetarians and fish eaters are at lower risk is plausible. But we do not know why cancer of the blood is lower in vegetarians."

She added, “We need to know what aspect of a fish and vegetarian diet is protecting against cancer. Is it the higher fibre intake, higher intake of fruit and vegetables, is it just meat per se?”

While the findings underscore the health benefits of leafy diets, the study does not unequivocally establish that vegetarianism is the magic potion for all diseases.

Emphasizing the need for further research on the subject, Richard Lowe, chief executive of Eblex, the English beef and lamb executive, said, "We think that the link between diet and cancer is complex and as scientists themselves say, more research is needed to see how big a part diet plays."

What, however, is crystal clear is that shifting diets and turning away from meat could help people avoid some kind of diseases.