MORE EVIDENCE VEGETARIANISM FIGHTS CANCER

Hey, that "more evidence" isn't my phrasing - it's the headline for this Reuters story on a large, long-term study in the British Journal of Cancer: "After following more than 10,000 people for 17 years, investigators found that vegetarians were 15 percent less likely to develop colorectal cancer than meat-eaters. This study adds to the 'increasing scientific evidence' that a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fiber and low in meat--especially red and processed meat--can prevent colorectal cancer, said study author Dr. Miguel Sanjoaquin of the University of Oxford." The article goes on with some specifics - "The fat in red meat increases the excretion of substances called bile acids, he explained, which in turn produce other substances that encourage tumor growth. Furthermore, meat contains natural compounds and substances formed during processing and high-temperature cooking that can disrupt the normal balance of cell growth in the colon, potentially triggering the cancer, Sanjoaquin noted."
UPDATE 2/19: Fruit & vegetables also build strong bones, sez the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
UPDATE 2/20: A new multi-country study shows animal products increase the risk of prostate cancer, while veggies, especially onions and garlic, fight it. The study also points to the infamous insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) - which Monsanto's milk additive rBGH increases - as another contributor to prostate cancer. (From the abstract: "The strongest risk factor for prostate cancer mortality was animal products, with the nonfat portion of milk and alcohol being somewhat weaker; the strongest risk reduction factors were onions, other protective vegetable products (excluding alcohol, oils, and sweeteners), and solar UV-B radiation."