More evidence that a vegetarian diet decreases cancer risk.

Good news for us vegs. Excerpt from Reuters Health below.

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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.

During the current study, Sanjoaquin and his colleagues asked 10,998 adults about their eating habits and other health parameters, then noted who developed colorectal cancer.

People were classified as non-vegetarians if they ate meat
or fish. Vegetarians included vegans, who avoid all dairy and meat products ...