Cancer Study Contains Mixed Results

The American Meat Institute reports that a new study titled: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition- Oxford, says there is evidence that the incidence of colorectal cancer is higher in vegetarians than in meat eaters. But, at the same time, the study revealed that the incidence of all cancers combined was lower among vegetarians than among meat eaters.

The study looked at 63,550 men and women from the United Kingdom between 1993 and 1999. The study found that the incidence rate ratio for colorectal cancer in vegetarians compared with meat eaters was 1.39. The rate allows comparison with people with no prior malignant cancer for various factors like smoking, body mass index, alcohol consumption and dietary consumption of meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products.

In their conclusion, researchers stated that - the overall cancer incidence rates of both the vegetarians and the non-vegetarians in this study are low compared with national rates.