A Vegan Diet Can Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk By As Much 35 Percent
Vegetarians have a 35% reduced risk of developing prostate cancer according to a new study funded by the World Cancer Research Fund. A vegan diet is one that avoids all dairy and meat products and focuses on the consumption of vegetables, fruits, pulses, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
The study was led by Professor Gary Fraser, and conducted along with researchers at the Loma Linda University in California. Researchers examined the diets of over 26,000 men aged 30 or over to find out which dietary choices affected prostate cancer risk. A few of the participants in the study ate a diet consisting of meat, dairy products and vegetables; others consumed only dairy products and vegetables; and a third group ate an animal product-free diet. The researchers tracked the diets of these men for a period of five years.
During the course of the study, a total of 1,079 cases of prostate cancer were identified among the group of 26,000 men and around 8% of those who were studied said they followed a vegan diet. The findings succeeded in providing new data about eating habits and prostate cancer prevention. Further research can also lead towards developing new prevention techniques. Researchers from Loma Linda University in California found that men who followed a vegan diet had a “statistically significant protective association”, with a 35% reduced risk of developing the disease.
Professor Gary Fraser further added: “This new research makes a significant step in linking a vegan diet to reduced prostate cancer risk.”What we now need is more research into this area to determine to the extent a vegan diet could reduce the number of men developing this cancer.” While statistically significant, the research will require replication in order to discern just how closely lifestyle factors might change the a man’s prostate cancer risk.
All things considered, there is one question researchers weren’t able to address: Is it in fact meat and dairy products that raises a man’s risk for prostate cancer? Or does a vegan diet offer some form of specific protection against the disease? Or perhaps both factor into a man’s risk for developing prostate cancer?. Either way more research will be needed to determine how long a man must engage in a vegan diet before receiving any additional cancer protection.
