Vegetarian diet slashes cancer risk by up to 31%

New study offers insights into preventing illness but it's not all good news for meat avoiders

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A VEGETARIAN diet can slash the risk of five cancers by as much as 30%, research suggests.

The largest ever study of its kind found vegetarians have a 21% lower risk of pancreatic cancer and a 9% lower risk of breast cancer compared with meat eaters.

They also have a 12% reduced risk of prostate cancer, 28% lower risk of kidney cancer and 31% lower risk of multiple myeloma.

However, researchers at the University of Oxford found vegetarians have nearly double the risk of the most common type of cancer of the oesophagus compared with meat eaters.

This might be due to vegetarians missing out on some key nutrients, the team suggested.

It is already known that eating processed meat such as ham, bacon and salami is linked to an increased risk of bowel cancer, and possibly stomach cancer.