Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi
New Delhi, Apr 10: A major international study has found that vegetarian diets may lower the risk of several cancers, while also highlighting certain unexpected risks linked to specific dietary patterns.
The research, published in the British Journal of Cancer, analysed dietary data from over 1.8 million people across countries including India, the UK, the US and Taiwan, tracked over an average of 16 years.
The study revealed that vegetarians had reduced risks of five cancers — breast, prostate, pancreatic, kidney and multiple myeloma — compared to meat-eaters. Notably, the risk of pancreatic cancer was 21% lower, prostate cancer 12% lower, and breast cancer 9% lower among vegetarians.
However, researchers also observed that vegetarians had nearly double the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, a common form of oesophageal cancer.
Vegans, meanwhile, were found to have a 40% higher risk of colorectal cancer compared to meat-eaters, a finding researchers described as unexpected.
The analysis, supported by the World Cancer Research Fund, examined links between diet and 17 different cancers. It also found that pescatarians — those who consume fish but avoid other meats — had lower risks of colorectal, breast and kidney cancers, while poultry eaters showed a reduced risk of prostate cancer.
K M Venkat Narayan, a co-author of the study, said the findings broadly support the benefits of diets rich in fruits and vegetables, though they must be interpreted with caution.
Researchers suggested that nutritional deficiencies, such as lower levels of certain B vitamins or calcium, could explain the increased risks observed in some groups. They emphasised the need for further studies to better understand whether the risks are linked to absence of meat or gaps within vegetarian and vegan diets.
Indian data for the study was contributed through research led by Nikhil Tandon of All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The dataset included around 10,000 participants from Delhi and Chennai under a long-running health study tracking lifestyle and disease patterns.
Experts noted that dietary habits in India are often shaped by tradition rather than individual choice, making it important to interpret the findings in a regional context.
The study is part of the Cancer Risk in Vegetarians Consortium, the largest investigation to date examining how dietary patterns influence cancer risk across diverse populations.