Vegetarians were less likely to suffer from five cancers including breast and pancreatic (Image: Getty)
Vegetarians are up to 30% less likely to be diagnosed with certain cancers, the largest study of its kind has found. Oxford University researchers found those who shun meat had a lower risk of five cancers, but an increased risk of one. Vegetarians had a 21% lower risk of pancreatic cancer and a 9% lower risk of breast cancer compared with meat eaters. They also had a 12% reduced risk of prostate cancer, 28% lower risk of kidney cancer and 31% lower risk of multiple myeloma.
However, they had nearly double the risk of the most common type of cancer of the oesophagus. This might be due to vegetarians missing out on some key nutrients, the team suggested. The study’s principal investigator, Aurora Perez Cornago, said: “Vegetarians typically consume more fruit, vegetables and fibre than meat eaters and no processed meat, which may contribute to lower risks of some cancers. The higher risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma in vegetarians and bowel cancer in vegans may relate to lower intakes of certain nutrients more abundant in animal foods.
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“Additional research is needed to understand what is driving the differences in cancer risk found in our study.”
Eating processed meat such as ham, bacon and salami has previously been linked to an increased risk of bowel cancer, and possibly stomach cancer.
Red meat such as beef, pork and lamb also increases the risk, while a link has not been shown for white meat such as chicken and turkey.
Experts behind the new study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, said more work was needed on whether it is overall meat consumption that is problematic when it comes to cancer, or whether something specific in vegetarian diets lowers cancer risk.
The new research included data from various studies across the world, with most people coming from the UK and US.
Some 1.64 million meat eaters were included, alongside 57,016 poultry eaters (no red meat), 42,910 people who ate fish and no meat (pescatarians), 63,147 vegetarians and 8,849 vegans.
The study led by researchers at Oxford Population Health investigated 17 different cancers, including those of the gastrointestinal tract, lung, reproductive system, urinary tract, and blood cancer.
Food intake, generally over the previous 12 months or a “typical diet”, was assessed using food questionnaires. Factors that may influence the results, such as body mass index, were taken into account.
The analysis also found that vegans had a significantly higher risk of bowel cancer when compared with meat eaters. Researchers said this may be due to a low average intake of calcium compared with other people (590mg per day compared to a recommendation of 700mg per day), and low intakes of other nutrients.
Cancer Research UK has already found that calcium lowers bowel cancer risk, with a large glass of milk a day linked to a 17% reduction. However, the Oxford team said more research was needed in this area owing to the fact only 93 bowel cancers were found in the vegan group.
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For the other cancers studied, there was no evidence that risk in vegans differed from meat eaters, and for some less common cancers there were too few vegan cases to analyse.
Vegetarians also did not have a lower risk of bowel cancer, compared with meat eaters, which the researchers said was “inconsistent” with the knowledge that processed and red meat increases the risk.
They said this was likely because processed meat intake in the meat eating group was moderately low.
Tim Key, emeritus professor of epidemiology at Oxford Population Health and co-investigator of the study, said there are around three million vegetarians in the UK and interest “in vegetarianism growing in many parts of the world”.
He said that, although it is true that vegetarians do eat more fibre and more fruit and vegetables, the differences in the study between the two groups were “not very big” and may not explain the findings.
He added: “My feeling is the differences are more likely to be related to meat itself than to simply vegetarians eating more healthy foods.”
Amy Hirst, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said the “high-quality study” offers some interesting insights, but the findings were not strong enough to draw definitive conclusions.
“More research in larger, more diverse populations is needed to better understand these patterns and what’s causing them. When it comes to reducing cancer risk, keeping a healthy, balanced diet overall matters more than individual foods.
“Aim for plenty of fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and sources of protein – as well as cutting down on processed and red meat, alcohol, and foods high in fat, salt and sugar.”
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