Researchers Determine Vegetarians Enjoy Decreased Cancer Rates
British researchers have good news for those of us who have decided to stay away from meat: vegetarians are 12% less likely to suffer from cancer than those who eat meat. In particular, the researchers found that vegetarians are far less likely to develop cancers that affect the blood than those who eat meat.
Experts have long known that people who eat a great deal of processed meat or red meat are more likely to develop stomach cancer, but the new study demonstrated that vegetarians suffer from lower rates of bladder cancer, stomach cancer and cancers of the blood.
After studying 61,000 people over a 12 year period, the most surprising finding was that vegetarians are 45% less likely to develop cancers of the blood, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma, than people who eat meat.
Throughout the study’s timeframe, 3,350 of the 61,000 participants developed cancer. In the end, the researchers determined that the results were independent of other known cancer risk factors, such as obesity, alcohol intake and smoking.
Although the researchers have concluded that more research is needed to confirm these findings and to determine the reason for these differences, these results, which were published in the British Journal of Cancer, are just one more reason for vegetarians to celebrate embracing the vegetarian lifestyle!