Red alert – vegans get less cancer!
It’s official; vegetarians and vegans get less cancer. A new study from Oxford University, looking at how diet affects cancer risk, has revealed that people who don’t eat meat have a much lower risk of getting the disease. The 15-year study followed 60,000 British men and women, of which over 18,000 were vegetarians and 2,246 vegan. They found that cancer incidence was 11 per cent lower in vegetarians, but a whopping 19 per cent lower in vegans. This adds to a huge body of evidence showing how red and processed meat increases the risk of cancer and other diseases.
Key TJ et al., 2014. Cancer in British vegetarians: updated analyses of 4998 incident cancers in a cohort of 32,491 meat eaters, 8612 fish eaters, 18,298 vegetarians, and 2246 vegans. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 100 Suppl 1:378S-85S.
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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