Are Vegetarians Less Likely To Get Cancer?

| Wednesday, July 6, 2011
By Owen Jones


Most people have a nebulous notion that eating meat is bad for you and that eating vegetables will stop you from getting some serious illnesses such as cancer. Not everyone believes this, but still there is an under current or popular conviction that it is so.

It certainly is true that you will consume less animal fat if you are a vegetarian. However, even vegetarians normally eat some animal fats when they eat shop-made cakes or meals in restaurants. There are in essence two schools of ideology on dietary fat.

The traditional view is that decreasing saturated fats is good for you but there is the Atkins Diet idea that saturated fats will not hurt you yet carbohydrates will. Regrettably, the average guy in the street who does not have a medical level of knowledge only has to go with his or her best judgment and hope for the best. After all, if the experts can not agree on what is good and what is not good for us, what chance do we have of knowing?

It is almost certainly fairly true that eating less saturated fat and eating more fibre-rich vegetables and fruit is a good notion, but there is no real need to cut out meat all together. Some studies in Europe have suggested that vegetarians are up to 40% less to be expected to develop cancer than meat-eaters.

Additionally, studies into breast cancer rates all over the world imply that there is less breast cancer in countries where they eat less meat like China and other eastern countries, whereas in Japan, where the American presence has meant that more people eat a la American, the incidence of breast cancer is eight times higher.

This tends to indicate that the American diet of plenty of saturated fat and processed meat like hamburgers and hot dogs is responsible for higher rates of cancer.

It is also said that meat and dairy products contribute to the development of several kinds of cancer including breast, colon, ovarian and prostate cancers. Colon cancer appears to be the most affected by a high consumption of meat and dairy with one report stating that it can raise the danger by an enormous 300%.

One well-known problem for adults with drinking milk is that it can raise the body's levels of oestrogen which is the 'female' hormone. This can produce breasts in overweight men and increase the chance of breast cancer in both sexes.

It has been reported that one study into cancer in premenopausal women showed that those who ate meat had a thirty-odd percent more risk of developing cancer. Eating dairy products has been linked with ovarian cancer, because it seems that breaking down lactose damages the ovaries in some way.

There is a similar trend in men. Men who eat meat each day have a higher risk of prostate cancer, some say up to three times as high and drinking milk may double the danger as well. Those men who do not eat vegetables at all or very infrequently quadruple their chances of prostate cancer.

It is very difficult to know what to do, because various studies by different bodies reveal different findings. If you do not know who to follow, it appears best to attempt to follow a balanced diet in which fruit and vegetables make up the majority of the bulk and calories.




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