Men might have more reasons than women to go vegan. Well, at least one more reason anyway. A recent article from YahooNews states that men on a vegetarian diet have a 35% lower prostate cancer risk.
The research involves data from around 26,000 men and was carried out by researchers from Loma Linda University. Funded by the World Cancer Research Fund, the study found there were 1,079 cases of prostate cancer and vegans among them account for around only 8 percent.
According to Professor Gary Fraser of Loma Linda University, the new research is very significant because it has successfully linked a vegetarian diet to a reduction in prostate cancer risk. Fraser added that more research is still necessary to exactly determine the extent a vegan diet might reduce this risk.
The vegetarian diet has long been linked to lower prostate cancer incidents in men. For example, a 2011 study concluded a generally reduced cancer risk, which includes prostate cancer, among the vegetarian population. In addition, an
Everyday Health article by Dennis Thompson ,Jr. suggest that vegetable have cancer-fighting agents while meat have been shown to contain carcinogens, especially if they are fried or grilled for a long time. Adopting a vegetarian diet would then strengthen the body's resistance to prostate cancer while, at the same time, eliminate the added prostate cancer risk associated with eating meat.
This is good news indeed for men. A 35 percent prostate risk reduction is very significant considering that prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death for U.S. men and is the second-most common type of cancer. However, those trying to adopt a the vegan lifestyle need to be informed that vegan in this case not only refers to the avoidance of meat alone, but means avoidance of all animal products including eggs and dairy products.
Switching to a 100 percent vegan diet may prove to be extremely difficult and many suggest that it must be done a step at a time. However, even a plant-based diet which is not a hundred percent vegetarian is still beneficial according to an Oncology Nutrition article.
