Mar 31, 2016

Scientists discover the ‘vegetarian gene’ that carries a cancer risk

Researchers think they may have found the reason why people from countries where vegetarianism is more common, tend to be at higher risk of cancer when they live in the West and eat more meat.

Scientists at the Cornell University in New York say people with an ancestry that consumed a primarily vegetarian diet may have a genetic mutation that makes them more vulnerable to inflammation leading to cancer and heart disease.

They tested 600 people from different ethnic backgrounds and found that people with an ancestry that was predominantly vegetarian had a gene that could trigger inflammation when they ate food cooked with some oils containing high levels of omega-6 fatty acids.

Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution


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