Major study links plant-based diet to lower cancer risk - colorectal surgeon provides context

CapeTalk's John Maytham discusses the findings of the study with Dr Daniel Surridge, a colorectal surgeon.

A major new study shows that those participants who avoided meat had a 12% lower overall risk of developing cancer compared to meat eaters in the same community.

Researchers tracked close to 80,000 members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America over an average of eight years, monitoring their diets and health closely.

The specific findings went even further - there was a 21% lower risk of colorectal cancer, a 45% lower risk of stomach cancer, and a 25% lower risk of lymphoproliferative cancers such as lymphoma.

Colorectal surgeon Dr Daniel Surridge places the findings in some context.

If you have a look at this data combined with anything known from before, a diet high in red meat and specifically processed meats and preserved meats DOES increase cancer risk, he affirms; but as with anything, moderation is the key.

"We've known for a while that red meat and processed meats do increase your risk and this is a study that's brought this to the fore, but I don't think anyone should go out and say 'stop eating meat'."

Dr Daniel Surridge, Colorectal Surgeon

"Any study that looks at diet solely as a reason for an illness is fraught with lots of statistical issues and confounding issues that come into it...  Obviously the study tried to control for this, but it's very difficult to pull a population out and say 'you may not have x, y, or z' and then say this is now a relevant conclusion to reach."

Dr Daniel Surridge, Colorectal Surgeon

It is not all just about your diet, Dr Surridge emphasizes.

If you look at any illness around the world there is a complicated interaction between your own genetics and the environment around you, he notes.

"It's got to do with the bacteria in your gut, with the environment around you, the pollutants that also influence all of us. This study has looked at just one aspect that you can possibly control."

Dr Daniel Surridge, Colorectal Surgeon

He cites the example of a vegan diet where poor management of it could give rise to all sorts of other health risks, whereas if properly managed you could lead a perfectly healthy life. 

The same would apply to a diet that includes red and processed red meat.

"Yes, you have added health risks if you include a lot of this, but if you manage that diet correctly and you eat everything in moderation then you can lead a perfectly healthy life with a low risk of cancer."

Dr Daniel Surridge, Colorectal Surgeon

To hear more about the management of cancer risk, or dietary management if you have cancer, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article