Cancer risks can be diminished with low-protein diet

A group of vegetarians was studied by dietitians who wanted to derive a relation between low protein diet and cancer risks. It turned out that these vegetarians have low levels of certain blood hormones that are considered to evoke cancer.

A vegetarian diet when compared with typical American diet high in meat and milk proteins gives many advantages to its adherents. It is established that low protein diet provides low levels of an IGF-1, a hormone in charge of cells grow. On the contrary, rich protein diet, including meat and dairy, offers increased amount of IGF-1 thus creating prerequisites for prostate, colon and breast cancers.

Scientists believe that protein intake control is crucial in reducing cancer risk. A detailed analysis of relationship between protein diet and cancer risks is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study of vegetarian diet is covered in the article.

A group consisted of 21 middle-aged members who have been adhering a vegetarian diet for at least 2 years. They were compared with control group of 21 adults running standard American high-protein meat diet. Group of vegetarians consumed 0.8 grams of protein per 1 kilogram of body weight.

As a result a group of vegetarians had significantly lower levels of hormones, considered to cause cancer risk, like IGF-1, in comparison with control group. The levels of dangerous blood hormones increased with the protein intake.

The dietitians who have conducted the research concluded that people tend to eat more and more animal and processed unhealthy food. If only Americans ate less red meat and more fruit, vegetables and whole grain products, the level of dangerous proteins would remain under control and the risk of cancer would be reduced.