Vegetarian Diet Reduces Risks of Rectum & Colon Cancer

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A study has shown that following a vegetarian diet can reduce the risk of colon and rectal cancer. The study compared vegetarians with people who ate meat. In addition, a comparison between the different types of vegetarians was conducted.

According to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church website, the Adventist Health Study-2 was conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University Health. North Jersey states that over 77,000 men and women participated in the research over the course of seven years. Of the 77,000, about half were meat-eaters, while the rest were vegetarians.

Dr. Michael Orlich is the lead researcher in the study, reports the Adventist website. He states, "The balance of scientific evidence seems to implicate red meat and processed meat as being linked to a higher risk of colorectal cancer, whereas a diet rich - not fiber supplements - is linked with lower risk."

The doctor adds, "The vegans, lacto-ovo vegetarians, and pescovegetarians in our study all avoid red and processed meat and eat an increased amount of a variety of whole plant foods,"

The study seems to suggest that an all plant diet will significantly protect people from developing all types of colon and rectal cancers, reports the church's site. The research findings are important because colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death amongst cancer patients, after lung cancer.

North Jersey reports the that the risk of colorectal cancer showed a 22% reduction rate, regardless of the type of vegetarian diet a person followed. The study went a bit further and split the vegetarians into four sub-groups.

There were semi-vegetarians, who ate meat less than once a week and pesco-vegetarians who ate fish, but no other meat. There were also lacto-ovo vegetarians who ate eggs and dairy but no meat, and vegans who ate no meat, dairy, or eggs.

Among all the different types, pesco-vegetarians showed the best reduction rate of colorectal cancer by 43%. Despite the results, Dr. Gary Fraser, the principal investigator cautions everyone from eating more fish.

Dr. Fraser states, "The main message is to avoid all meats, as the main result was that all vegetarians as a group did better than the non-vegetarians. Thus from this paper alone what one can really say is the replacing meats with vegetables, nuts, legumes, and fruits will most likely decrease risk of colorectal cancer."

The study was published this week in an online journal named, "JAMA Internal Medicine," states the Adventist Church website.