Vegetarian diet could lower cancer risk

A new study from the United Kingdom seems to suggest that those who eat a vegetarian diet may have less chance of developing cancer.

For the study the eating habits of of over 52,000 men and women were looked at. The results indicate that people who did not eat meat had less cancer's then people that did. The study also revealed a surprise results in that vegetarians had a higher rate of colorectal cancer, a disease often associated with meat eaters. The men and women who took part in the research where aged between 20 and 89. They were all from the UK. People taking part were put into four categories of meat- eaters, fish-eaters, vegans and vegetarians. Those who eat fish or a vegetarian diet had the lowest number of cancers. Tim Key from Cancer Research UK said: "It's interesting - it suggests there might be some reduction in cancers in vegetarians and fish-eaters and we need to look carefully at that. It doesn't support the idea that vegetarians would have lower rates of colorectal cancer and I think it means we need to think more carefully about how meat fits into it." . Dr Joanne Lunn from the British Nutrition Foundation said this: "An interesting observation was that the vegetarians had a higher rate of colorectal cancer than the meat-eaters. "When you look at the detail of their diets, the meat-eaters, to which the vegetarians in this group were compared, are eating only moderate amounts of meat each day - well within the recommendations. "Both groups are also just about meeting the recommendation to eat at least 5 portions of fruits and vegetables a day."