Vegan Diets Protect Against Prostate Cancer

A vegetarian diet lowers your risk for prostate cancer, according to a study published online this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers compared several dietary patterns and cancer incidence rates for 26,346 participants from the Adventist Health Study-2. Those who followed a vegan diet were less likely to be obese and experienced a 35 percent lower prostate cancer risk than those following a nonvegetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, pesco-vegetarian, or semi-vegetarian diet. Researchers suspect higher intakes of fiber, soy, and anti-inflammatory antioxidants from fruits and vegetables and lower intakes of saturated fat, animal protein, and serum insulin-like growth factor 1 from dairy products from a vegan diet contributed to lower cancer risk.