Cancer and meat, another study highlights the risks (and benefits of not eating it)
A low-meat diet could protect against cancer. A study published in the journal BMC Medicine highlights that eating less than 5 servings of meat per week or, better yet, don’t eat it at all associates with a reduced risk of getting cancer. The study reports Ansawas conducted at the University of Oxford by Cody Watling, considering a sample of 472,377 adults aged 40-70 whose consumption of meat and fish have been monitored over time.
Experts also monitored the new tumors diagnosed for this sample, over a period of 11 years. The consumption of the sample under examination is distributed as follows: 247,571 participants (52% of the total) ate meat for more than 5 times a week205,382 (44%) consumed meat for 5 times a week or less10,696 (2%) ate fish but not meat8,685 (2%) were vegetarians or vegans.
Over the study period, 54,961 participants (12%) did cancer patients. The experts estimated that overall, compared to those who ate meat more than five times a week, the risk of cancer was about 2% lower among those who consumed it for five times a week or not yet; of the 10% lower among those who ate fish but not meat; the 14% lower between vegetarians and vegans.
As for the vegetarian womentheir breast cancer risk was 18% lower. The next step, the researchers conclude, will be to repeat the study on a new one even larger sample of individuals.
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