VEG DIET CUTS COLON CANCER RISK
NEW YORK - Eating a meat-free, vegetarian diet may reduce
the risk of colorectal cancer, new research suggests. After
following more than 10,000 people for 17 years,
investigators found that vegetarians were 15 percent less
likely to develop colorectal cancer than meat-eaters.
This study adds to the "increasing scientific evidence" that
a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fiber and low in meat--
especially red and processed meat--can prevent colorectal
cancer, study author Dr. Miguel Sanjoaquin of the University
of Oxford, UK, told Reuters Health.
However, Sanjoaquin cautioned that only a small number of
study participants--95--developed colorectal cancer, making
it impossible to determine if fewer vegetarians developed
cancer simply due to chance. However, Sanjoaquin noted that
a previous study featuring more cases of colorectal cancer
confirmed these findings, and he added that it makes sense
that eating vegetarian could cut cancer risk. The fat in red
meat increases the excretion of substances called bile
acids, he explained, which in turn produce other substances
that encourage tumor growth.
Furthermore, meat contains natural compounds and substances
formed during processing and high-temperature cooking that
can disrupt the normal balance of cell growth in the colon,
potentially triggering the cancer, Sanjoaquin noted.
Alternatively, substances in fruits and vegetables--staples
of the vegetarian diet--"may inhibit these adverse
effects," he added.
Full story: www.nlm.nih.gov