Meat consumption actually increases risk of cancer

Regular meat consumption is indeed associated with an increased risk of cancer, and scientists from University of Oxford have proven this, BMC Medicine writes.

The team, led by Cody Watling, analyzed data from 472,377 Britons between 2006 and 2010. 52% of participants ate meat and fish more than 5 times a week, 44% ate meat products 5 or less times a week, and 4% were vegetarians, vegans, or people who ate only fish.

The researchers pointed out that 12% of people who ate fish or meat dishes got cancer during the study period.

The overall risk of cancer was 2 percent lower among those who ate meat five times or less a week, those who ate only fish were 10 percent less likely to develop cancer, and vegetarians and vegans were 14 percent less likely to develop cancer.

The researchers say that the findings of their work do not carry a direct causal relationship between dietary habits and cancer, as they were collected at a specific time interval rather than over the lifetime of the participants. They also believe that this relationship should be better investigated in the future, but with more participants and over longer time periods.

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