Being a vegetarian can cut your risk of cancer by a half, claim scientists

[ElenorRigby]

"More than 61,000 people aged between 20 and 89, roughly half of whom were vegetarian, were followed for more than 12 years in the British arm of the research which is supported by Cancer Research UK."
"vegetarians were 12 per cent less likely to contract cancer than their meat eating counterparts"
"For some cancers like leukaemia, stomach and bladder cancers the difference was even more striking with up to 45 per cent fewer non-meat eaters contracting the diseases than carnivores."
Wow very conclusive study, maybe there should be a campaign to switch children to a meat free diet!

it's the original research, elenorrigby.

Nad it hinkt it is good to debate vs just immediately jump on it and criticise TBH.
it seems dreafully adversarial.

It is this sort of ting that shows up trends and points people to lok into certain things.

It's difficult to find out about science thro the press tbh as it is always the most sensational headline that gets printed.

The environmental and vegetarian campaigners always harp on about the methane gases emitted from cows but conveniently forget that rice paddy fields are responsible for over 20% of anthropogenic methane emissions and that is set to rise as demand for rice increases.

It will be a matter of time before the dictators start telling us that if we don't stop eating rice, the planet will be doomed. Somehow I cannot imagine SouthEast Asian countries taking too much notice

At least the Chinese researchers who published the original research are highlighting it which means that sensible research is underway to see how this can be mitigated which is the way things should be done. Not the we are all doomed screeching one gets from self-interested lobbies who will only listen to those who agree with them.

ohhh elenorrigby, and you seemed to be just posting a little snippet that you'd read in the paper-
he must have the journal.. ut due to the fabness of the internet you can acess this one online.

I always get annoyd when you ahve to pay to access articles, but this one is freely available.

so we can all red the original source and discuss gently at length slag each other off

I'm not good at stats, FAQ, but 3% is actually less than half of 7%

I'm intrigued why is your diet 75% veggie spokette?

Because of what I eat

that's very true oops - but the figures reported in the article and the title of the OP (and "information") in it - is (imo) misleading

You seem to having a hmm smiley overload atm oh dear.

I'll ask again given seem to hold little sway with health or environmental arguments for vegetarianism why do eat a 75% vegetarian diet? Im really interested especially as your a scientist I am sure you have given it some thought

Gosh, people really are narked by any evidence suggesting eating meat is bad for you, aren't they?

This was published in a reputable, peer-reviewed journal, it's from a very large ongoing study, it's supported by Cancer Research UK... what is the problem, exactly?

Or perhaps meat eaters genuinely think the European Perspective Investment into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), which is following half a million people, is rubbish in scientific terms?

Fine, debate the findings, but don't try to pretend they are meaningless just because they don't fit your prejudices.

edam - who is saying they are meaningless - I am just arguing that the OP's title, plus the article in the telegraph don't actually tell the full story.

i don't know about cancer, but it will cut your food spending by about half, too!

we only have meat 2-3x/week.

Wasn't having a go at anyone in particular, or at all, FAQ, just surprised that so many posters leapt in with 'ooh, it must be a rubbish study' without bothering to check.

(And the percentages are about correct - if 7% of ominvores get cancer and 4% of vegetarians, that means vegetarians have almost half the risk over the time period studied. Or 42% if you want to be more precise.)

omnivores, darn it!

A family member has lung cancer - perhaps it had to do with him being exposed to asbestos rather than his diet...

Perhaps vegetarians are people who naturally take a deeper interest in lifestyle choices and lead healthier lives - it has NOTHING then to do with diet ...

Faq its not my title, its the title from the Telegraph's article that I gave the link for.

Don't think the study says anything about lung cancer, it's pretty clear the chief causes are smoking, pollution and industrial exposure, not diet.

And there is very good evidence already that diet plays a large part in ill-health, especially a diet rich in plant foods (which doesn't have to be vegetarian). The interesting thing about this is it's a large study which has shown a clear difference between vegetarians and meat-eaters.

Google 'Mediterranean diet' or put it into pubmed if you really need convincing that diet is linked to disease. A healthier lifestyle is chiefly around diet and exercise, can't understand why anyone is questioning that!

I think people in some mediterranean areas (eg. south west france) eat far more meat than is the norm in the UK. I went on a french exchange with an English friend who didn't eat meat and the french could simply not understand the idea of vegetarianism. Not sure if it has changed.

No, 'Mediterranean diet' is a term used by researchers to refer to a specific type of diet that is more prevalent in some Mediterranean areas, and is higher in plant foods and fish and lower in meat. Google it if you want to find out more.

the study says it is intersting and opens up a palce of debate IMO.

But there are some people who aren't willing to debate- just to criticise and try to belittle people who want to debate IMO.

hey ho

And i think the study actually says that the veggies did do a little bit more excercise on the whole too- smoking was pretty much even betwen the groups so this isn't about smoking per se...

and aren't most meat eaters having a partly veggie diet?
or if you eat meat is it 100% of what oyou eat?

i'm not sure waht a 75% veggie diet is tbh.

I'm sure lots of people only eat meat on occ which i agree means the results are hard to look at.

my fh will eat no meat xpt fish at home, but when he goes out he eats meat...
i'm not sure where he is in the study criteria...

Yes, meat eaters do eat veg too, that's why it's interesting that this large, reputable study shows a distinct difference between veggies and meat-eaters.

There is nothing strange about my 75% veggie diet. I don't eat meat for breakfast (have cereal or fruit), rarely have it for lunch (mainly have homemade veggie soup and fruit) and if I have meat with my dinner, it only constitutes about 20-25% of what is on my plate. The rest is either salad or vegetables. Similarly with fish.

My diet is extremely healthy and based on natural food. Not synthetic garbage like Quorn which the veggies I know eat in copious amounts as highly process pretend mince, sausage etc.

I need to read about the study in detail but my reservations concern the lack of control of influencers. Comparing meat and non-meat eaters in an uncontrolled environment where genetics, the environment and personal proclivities are not controlled is extremely difficult.

I'm interested by your posts spokette. I share your thoughts on quorn and veggie sausages. Please could someone tell me what it is safe to eat?

If one avoids quorn, veggie sausages and all meat, what is left (in terms of iron/protein)? Should one get all one's protein from fish and how safe is fish if it has been swimming in polluted waters?

Obviously I know fruit, and vege are healthy but what else is actually safe to eat?

There is also the fact that water is either bottled (chemicals from bottles) or from the tap (full of cancer drugs etc and chemicals).

So if you are trying to follow a diet to avoid cancer it is quite hard to find anything that is entirely healthy to eat / drink