A Vegetarian Diet with Seafood Can Lower the Risks of Colon Cancer

The benefits of an all vegetarian diet have been unknown to none. It is not recently that health experts studied meat consumption and came down heavily on its inclusion in regular diets. Amid all the shunning, many have still been vehemently citing the importance of meat consumption. But most think and believe that skipping meat does more good than harm.Red Meat can Damage Your Heart!Should I Avoid Eating Meat? This may further stand true with the recent attempt at understanding the roles of different diets by a study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Internal Medicine. The study closely followed groups of people having different dietary preferences. There were four groups ranging from vegans, to those who ate vegetables with eggs, vegetables with seafood and the ones who consumed vegetables and little amount of meat as well - once a week. (Cutting down on red meat lowers heart disease, diabetes) As experts closely monitored these groups, it was found that a combination of vegetables along with seafood consumption significantly helped in cutting short risks of colorectal cancers. (Too much meat may raise diabetes risk) Pesco-vegetarians were the ones who consumed vegetables along with regular intake of seafood. This group reported 43% lower risk of colorectal cancers as compared to others. This was in sharp contrast to vegans who had a 16% lower risks of colorectal cancer, followed by the vegetarian group who consumed to milk and egg, which reported an 18% lowered risks. "Compared with non-vegetarians, vegetarians had a 22 percent lower risk for all colorectal cancers, 19 percent lower risk for colon cancer and 29 percent lower risk for rectal cancer," noted Michael J. Orlich of Loma Linda University, California. "The evidence that vegetarian diets similar to those of our study participants may be associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, along with prior evidence of the potential reduced risk of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and mortality, should be considered carefully in making dietary choices and in giving dietary guidance," the study concluded. Check Prostate Cancer: Eat More Fish, Vegetables, Avoid Meats However, the experts called out for a need to further investigation as it still remains unclear whether it's the inclusion of seafood in human diet that perpetrated the results or a combination of vegetables with fish that led to such results. All in all, the research emphasized on the fact that while vegetables bring in all the important essential nutrients, minerals and dietary fibre onto the plate, seafood tops it up with omega-3 fatty acids that is often lauded for its anti-inflammatory and health benefiting properties that are also known to combat cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Dietary factors have been identified as a modifiable risk factor for colorectal cancer, including red meat - which is linked to increased risk - and food rich in dietary fibre - which is linked to reduced risk - according to the study background. Colorectal cancer is an umbrella term used to envelop within itself a host of cancer  types including colon cancer, rectal cancer and bowel cancer that translate into cancers that occur in the large intestine.Inputs from IANS