This may not be the best news for the meat eater, but meat isn’t always the healthiest dietary choice. While it’s certainly important to get enough protein in your diet, it’s also important to make sure that fruits and vegetables make up a substantial part of your food consumption. If meat is all that you are eating, you aren’t giving your body all of the nutrients needed for a long and healthy life.
The importance of a well-balanced diet has been understood for many years. According to new research, though, reducing your meat consumption may offer even more substantial health benefits than we first realized – including the benefit of reduced cancer risk.
The Link Between Meat Consumption and Cancer Risk
According to a 2022 Study published online by BMC Medicine, reducing how much meat you eat may be able to substantially reduce your cancer risk. The study examined 472,00 participants ages 40-70. These participants were asked to report how frequently each week they ate meat and the type of meat that they consumed.
52% of the study’s participants ate meat more than five times per week, while 42% ate meat fewer than five times per week. 2% of participants were pescetarian and ate fish but no meat, and another 2% were either vegetarian or vegan.
Over the eleven years that researchers followed these participants, overall cancer risk was found to be 2% lower among the group that ate meat less than five times per week compared to the group that ate meat more than five times per week. Those who only ate fish, meanwhile, exhibited a 10% lower overall cancer risk. For vegetarians and vegans, overall cancer risk was found to be 14% lower.
Excess meat consumption was shown to especially increase the risk of colon cancer and prostate cancer in men. Those who ate meat less than five times per week had a 9% lower risk of colon cancer than those who ate meat five times per week or more. Men who only ate fish were found to have a 20% lower risk of prostate cancer, while vegan and vegetarian men were found to have a 31% lower risk.
While these results might be either promising or alarming depending on your own dietary habits, researchers caution that observational studies such as this can only show an association and not a direct cause; the study was not able to take into account factors such as other dietary and lifestyle habits, genetics, and serving sizes. Nevertheless, the study’s results do seem to show a strong correlation between eating less meat and reduced cancer risk.
Other Benefits of Reducing Your Meat Consumption
Many types of meat are loaded with cholesterol and fat, while processed meats such as bacon and deli meat can be high in sodium as well. Cholesterol, saturated fat, and excess sodium are bad for your heart health, meaning that reducing your meat consumption may be able to lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Since meat is high in fat, it isn’t the best food for keeping off the pounds either. Lowering your meat consumption can reduce your risk of obesity and obesity-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
Along with the personal health benefits of reducing your meat consumption, there are societal benefits to consider as well. Producing meat requires far more land and resources than producing grains and vegetables, and the entire process of getting meat from the farm to the dinner table takes a heavy toll on the environment; in fact, it’s estimated that if every American ate vegan meals only just one day per week the country could save 100 billion gallons of water and 70 million gallons of gasoline every year.
Conclusion
A vegan diet isn’t for everyone, but even just reducing your meat consumption by a little each week can offer a lot of benefits. If you would like to reduce your cancer and heart disease risk and benefit the environment at the same time, consider eating meat less than five times per week. Just a couple of vegan-only days each week will go a long way toward improving your health and the Planet’s health alike.
