Study from University of Oxford and published in BMC Medicine found that vegetarian/vegan diets and decreasing meat consumption lowered cancer risks.

For their study, researchers analyzed data from the UK Biobank of 472,377 adults between the age of 40 to 70 years old. Participants recorded their dietary habits including how frequently they ate meat and researchers calculated the incidence of new cancers that developed over the average period of 11 years using health records.

The data of was of those who live in Britain. The found 52% ate meat more than five times per week, 44% ate meat less than five times per week, 2% ate fish but not other kinds of meat, and 2% were vegetarian or vegan. Over the average 11 years of follow up, 12% developed cancer.

They found that those who did not eat meat, vegetarian or vegan, had a 14% lower cancer risk compared to those who ate meat more than five times per week. They also found vegetarian men lowered their risk of prostate cancer by 31%. Women who were vegetarian had an 18% lower risk of breast cancer compared to those who ate meat more than five times per week.

Cancer is one of the top cause of deaths in the United States. People need to stop eating meat and switch to a whole-food plant-based diet if they want to lower their cancer risk.

CZ Watling et al. Risk of cancer in regular and low meat-eaters, fish-eaters, and vegetarians: a prospective analysis of UK Biobank participants. BMC Medicine. DOI: 10.1186/s12916-022-02256-w