Is this because meat causes cancer, or because people who adhere to a diet tend to be more health-conscious and physically active in general?
Correlation is not causation!
This question is answered in the article. They even put it in big bold italicised letters. You’re actually a caricature. How does it feel?
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These findings were compared to Adventists who maintained an otherwise healthy lifestyle but still consumed animal products.
“Many of those non-vegetarian Adventist people in this study were still very health-conscious, so in some ways, it’s amazing that we found anything at all,” said lead author Gary Fraser, an epidemiologist at Loma Linda University.
Actually finding proof of causation in dietary studies is incredibly hard and I’m not at all an expert.
The actual experts about overall cancer risk:
However, they cautioned that more evidence is needed to confirm whether a vegetarian diet lowers overall cancer risk. “The evidence from this study was suggestive of lower risk in vegetarians, but did not quite reach the necessary standard to say more,” researchers concluded.
In the end, health, environment, and the other findings over the years, are all secondary to the actual reason for veganism: reducing unnecessary animal suffering.
Even with all of these extra factors most people don’t seem to be interested in having their moral consistency questioned. So, hopefully this kind of research lowers the barrier for some.
