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Study: Vegetarians Are 45% Less Likely to Develop Cancer

Remember what a drag it was when Mom used to nag at you to eat your veggies at dinner? She may have been saving your life.

A study conducted in part by scientists at Oxford University’s Cancer Epidemiology Unit indicates that vegetarians develop cancer of some types, including bladder and stomach cancers and leukemia, up to 45% less than persons who eat red meat, that’s nearly half the risk! The study was published in the British Journal of Cancer earlier this year.

According to the National Cancer Institute, limiting your fruit and vegetable intake actually puts you at risk to develop cancer. Consider fruits and vegetables to your body like income to your bank account. The more you eat, and fill up your body’s bank account, the more “stuff” you can do, like fight off diseases, maintain healthy vision and organ function, be athletic, travel, focus, learn.

When your body is low on funds, you run into problems paying the bills and meeting the demands of life. Keeping your body’s bank account full is like keeping a nest egg or an emergency fund. As long as you’ve continued feeding your body good live things, you’re better equipped to handle whatever comes your way, mentally, emotionally and physically.

Part of this risk in limiting your fruit and veggie intake lies in the fact that lower consumption probably goes hand in hand with higher fat consumption-in other words you trade in the banana for the burger. High fat diets are associated with increased risk to develop cancer of the prostate, breast and colon.

Vegetarians (those who eat mainly plant matter, dairy and eggs) and vegans (those who eat only plant matter and consume no animal products of any kind) have lower cholesterol and generally have a lower body mass index (BMI) than meat eaters, and are at much lower risk for developing ischemic heart disease. It has been long known that fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains, are major factors in health and weight loss. You are less likely to be overweight if you are eating things that your body will use and benefit from, rather than eating toxic things that will just accumulate in your organs.

It is recommended that people eat five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, although many people find excuses not to do so. So many excuses, in fact, that the Food and Drug Administration decided to address them one by one in an issue of FDA Consumer Magazine. Other organizations are taking point on the five-a-day campaign, including the National Cancer Institute and Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes a calculator to tell you how many cups of each you need depending on your age, gender and activity level.

If you’re getting less than five servings per day of these disease fighting foods, it might be time to rethink your strategy. Sitting down to watch TV? Stash the potato chips (they don’t count as a vegetable) and try eating some fresh fruit instead.

Other than lowering the risk to develop cancer, helping to control cholesterol and fat levels, fruits and vegetables provides loads of antioxidants, which help remove free radicals from the body. Free radicals may cause cellular damage and lead to cancer. Free-radical wrangling antioxidants are found in all fruits and vegetables, some meat and dairy products, as well as raw nuts and seeds.

Common antioxidants are vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin C, selenium, lycopene, lutein and beta-carotene. Different fruits are higher in different types of antioxidants, so make sure you’re eating a wide variety that includes sweet seasonal fruits, succulent squashes, crisp peppers, and plenty of green leafy vegetables.

Looking for a quick and easy way to pack antioxidants into your diet? Bulk up on healthy berries! Not only do they contain extremely high amounts of antioxidants, they contain phytochemicals. Don’t let the word scare you, phytochemicals are a good thing.

Phytochemicals seem to block the tendency to develop cancer, but youll miss out on this important cancer fighting component if you just take an antioxidant supplement instead of consuming phytochemical containing foods, like berries. Blueberries are among the best free radical wranglers on the market, and they’re fun to gather at you-pick-farms. The American Cancer Society Guidelines states that 30-40% of the occurrences of cancer are linked with diet, and therefore preventable.

You can decrease your cancer chances even more by eating a raw food diet of fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds and drinking only water.