Reducing meat consumption may lower cancer risk, Biobank analysis finds

24 Feb 2022 --- Cancer risk was 14% lower among vegetarians and vegans than those who ate meat more than five times per week according to research conducted by the University of Oxford.

“This study confirms many previous studies that show that – overall – a vegetarian lifestyle is associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases,” says Gunter Kuhnle, professor of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Reading, who gives an expert reaction to the study.

“There are several possible explanations: first of all, people who follow such diets are usually more health-conscious and tend to be more physically active and less likely to smoke. Secondly, people on vegetarian or pescatarian diets are often also better educated and live in less deprived conditions – both factors that are known to have a strong link with health.”

The study found cancer risk is 2% lower among people who eat meat five times or less per week and 10% lower among those who ate fish but not meat.

Examining meat consumption and its impact
The researchers analyzed data from 472,377 UK consumers aged between 40 and 70 who indicated how often they ate meat and fish. The researchers used health data to assess the incidence of new malignancies that occurred over an average of 11 years.

The researchers took into account diabetes status and sociodemographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors.The findings showed that men who ate fish but not meat had a 20% reduced risk of prostate cancer.

The results showed that 247,571 (52%) of participants ate meat more than five times per week, 205,382 (44%) ate meat five times or less per week, 10,696 (2%) ate fish but not meat and 8,685 (2%) were vegetarians or vegans. During the research period, 54,961 participants (12%) acquired cancer.

Participants who ate meat five times or less per week had a 9% lower risk of colon cancer than those who ate meat more than five times per week when comparing the incidence of certain cancers with participants’ diet.

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. The data show that this is due to vegetarian women having a lower body mass index (BMI) than meat-eating women.

The findings also showed that men who ate fish but not meat had a 20% reduced risk of prostate cancer and men who ate a vegetarian diet had a 31% lower risk of prostate cancer than men who ate meat more than five times per week.

Study limitations
The researchers point out that because their study was observational, they can’t draw any causal association between diet and cancer risk.The researchers point out that because their study was observational, conclusions regarding a causal association between diet and cancer risk cannot be drawn.

“It is difficult to distinguish between the actual impact of dietary and other factors, but there is good evidence that supports a strong link between meat intake and colorectal cancer – although the association observed in this study was rather weak,” says Kuhnle.

Furthermore, because dietary data from the UK Biobank was obtained at a single point in time rather than over a long period, it may not be typical of people’s lifetime diets.

Processed meat and cancer risk prevalent
Industry players have been highlighting the health risks that highly processed meat poses.

Previously, it was unveiled that studies of highly processed red meat have frequently focused on the role of nitrite and its links to cancer. Processed meat consumption has been related to an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases, including bowel cancer.

The American Urological Association found that prostate cancer may be reduced by eating a plant-based diet.

By Nicole Kerr