Low-meat and meat-free diets associated with lower overall cancer risk

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/944012

 

 News Release 23-Feb-2022
Peer-Reviewed Publication
BMC (BioMed Central)

 

Eating meat five times or less per week is associated with a lower overall cancer risk, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Medicine.

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 The researchers found that the overall cancer risk was 2% lower among those who ate meat five times or less per week, 10% lower among those who ate fish but not meat, and 14% lower among vegetarians and vegans, compared to those who ate meat more than five times per week. When comparing the incidence of specific cancers with participants’ diet, the authors found that those who ate meat five times or less per week had a 9% lower risk of colorectal cancer, compared to those who ate meat more than five times per week. They also found that the risk of prostate cancer was 20% lower among men who ate fish but not meat and 31% lower among men who followed a vegetarian diet, compared to those who ate meat more than five times per week. Post-menopausal women who followed a vegetarian diet had an 18% lower risk of breast cancer than those who ate meat more than five times per week. However, the findings suggest that this was due to vegetarian women tending to have a lower body mass index (BMI) than women who ate meat.

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