*Experts say this diet change can have significant health benefits in consumers

Isola Moses | 绿帽献妻

Recent studies have discovered how eating less meat may be better for consumers鈥� health, and now a new study explored how meat consumption may affect cancer risk.

The study findings indicated that eating less meat, or cutting it out completely may reduce consumers鈥� risk of developing cancer, agency report stated.

The researchers wrote: 鈥淚n this large British cohort, being a low meat-eater, fish-eater, or vegetarian was associated with a lower risk of all cancer sites when compared to regular meat eaters.鈥�

On exploring the health benefits of eating less meat for the study, the researchers analysed data from over 472,000 British adults enrolled in the U.K. Biobank between 2006 and 2010.

The participants reported how frequently they consumed meat and fish, and the researchers tracked their health over the course of 11 years.

The study showed that the less meat the participants ate, the lower their risk was of developing cancer.

Compared with those who ate meat five times or less per week, vegetarians and vegans were 14 percent less likely to be diagnosed with cancer. Those who ate fish were 10 percent less likely to be diagnosed with cancer.

The research team further examined how the participants鈥� diets impacted the risk of specific cancers.

The risk of breast cancer was nearly 20 percent lower in postmenopausal women who had cut out meat entirely. Similarly, men who were vegetarians were 31 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Those who ate fish but not other types of meat were 20 percent less likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Those who ate meat five times or less each week were 9 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer.

While the team plans to do more work in this area to better understand how diet affects cancer risk, these findings highlight the effect that meat can have on long-term health outcomes.