Low or no meat diet may reduce risk for breast, colorectal, prostate cancer
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Eating meat five times or less per week was linked to a lower overall risk for cancer, according to observational findings published in BMC Medicine.
“The overall message is that eating little or no meat may be related with cancer risk but further research using diverse populations with larger numbers of vegetarians and pescatarians is needed to further explore potential explanations for differences in risk of specific types of cancer,” Cody Z. Watling, MSc, a DPhil student in the cancer epidemiology unit at the University of Oxford, told Healio.
Watling and colleagues conducted a prospective analysis to evaluate associations between vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets with cancer risk in a cohort of 472,377 U.K. Biobank participants who were cancer free at baseline. The researchers used digital questionnaires to grade the frequency of meat and fish consumption among participants. They classified regular meat-eaters as participants who reported consuming processed red meat or poultry more than five times per week; low meat-eaters as participants who reported consuming processed red meat or poultry five times or less per week; and fish-eaters as participants who never consumed red meat, processed meat or poultry but ate oily and/or non-oily fish.
Frequency of meat consumption
Among the study cohort, 52.4% of participants ate meat regularly, 43.5% ate some meat, 2.3% ate fish only and 1.8% were vegetarian or vegan. Both men and women who reported eating fish only or a vegetarian or vegan diet had lower BMIs and were younger at recruitment compared with regular meat-eaters, according to the researchers. Also, a greater proportion of women reported eating meat less regularly or not at all compared with men.
Incidence of cancer
Watling and colleagues used participants’ demographic and lifestyle data as well as their electronic health records to examine the incidence of cancer from 2006 to 2010. After a mean follow-up of 11.4 years, 54,961 cases of any cancer were diagnosed among the participants, the researchers reported. Of those, 5,882 participants were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, 7,537 women were diagnosed with postmenopausal breast cancer and 9,501 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The overall cancer risk among participants was 2% lower among those who ate meat five times or less per week, 10% lower among those who ate fish only and 14% lower among vegetarians and vegans compared with regular meat-eaters.
Also, Watling and colleagues reported that those who ate meat less often had a 9% lower risk for colorectal cancer compared with regular meat-eaters. In addition, the risk for prostate cancer was 20% lower among men who ate only fish and 31% lower among men who consumed a vegetarian or vegan diet compared with regular meat-eaters. Watling said that he was surprised by the substantially lower prostate cancer risk in participants who did not regularly consume meat, but it is unclear whether the lower risk for prostate cancer reflects a causal relationship of diet or is due to other factors or differences in cancer detection.
Moreover, postmenopausal women who consumed a vegetarian or vegan diet had an 18% lower risk for breast cancer than regular meat-eaters. However, the researchers said this association may have been influenced by a lower BMI among women following a vegetarian or vegan diet.
“Physicians should continue to recommend limiting red and processed meat and promoting a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, wholegrains and beans, based on World Cancer Research Fund recommendations,” Watling said. “They should also encourage individuals to maintain a healthy body weight to reduce the risk of numerous types of cancers.”
References:
Watling CZ, et al. BMC Med. 2022;doi:10.1186/s12916-022-02256-w.
New study finds lower risks of cancer for vegetarians, pescatarians and low meat-eaters. https://www.ndph.ox.ac.uk/news/new-study-finds-lower-risks-of-cancer-for-vegetarians-pescatarians-and-low-meat-eaters. Published Feb. 24, 2022. Accessed Feb. 24, 2022.
Perspective
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Lars T. Fadnes, MD
The study by Watling and colleagues from the University of Oxford seems to be well conducted and shows results that support findings from other studies that a high intake of meat is associated with increased risk of several cancers as well as several other chronic diseases, including CVD and lower life expectancy.
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