Why eating meat could prevent cancer according to new groundbreaking study

For years, meat lovers have been warned off eating too much red meat over fears it could lead to increased risk of heart disease, strokes and even cancer.

In fact, the World Health Organisation even went as far as classifying processed red meat as a group 1 carcinogen, which is the same category as smoking cigarettes.

However, a groundbreaking new study, published in Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism, could be about to turn all of that on its head.

A team of researchers from McMaster University looked at the eating habits of 16,000 adults, focusing on their animal and plant protein intake, and whether these patterns were associated with their risk of death.

What might come as a huge shock to anyone who doesn't eat meat for health purposes is that the team found no increased risk of death associated with higher intake of animal protein.

The research looked at animal and plant protein intake (Getty Stock Images)

What's more, they even found a small but significant reduction in cancer-related deaths in those who consumed more animal protein.

Stuart Phillips, Professor and Chair of the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University, supervised the research.

As per Science Daily, he said: "There's a lot of confusion around protein - how much to eat, what kind and what it means for long-term health.

"This study adds clarity, which is important for anyone trying to make informed, evidence-based decisions about what they eat."

Processed red meat is currently classed as a carcinogenic (Getty Stock Images)

To make sure their findings were based on reliable information, they used advanced statistical methods, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) method and multivariate Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) modelling, to calculate people's long-term protein intake.

"It was imperative that our analysis used the most rigorous, gold standard methods to assess usual intake and mortality risk," Phillips continued.

"These methods allowed us to account for fluctuations in daily protein intake and provide a more accurate picture of long-term eating habits."

While the study was purely observational and therefore can't prove cause and effect, the team found absolutely zero associations between protein and increased risk of death of any cause, including cardiovascular disease or cancer, regardless of whether the protein was from animal or plant sources.

Plant protein and animal protein didn't seem to show any difference (Getty Stock Images)

Nevertheless, the results are valuable when looking at the lifestyle habits of large populations and help scientists draw the conclusion that it is healthy to include animal proteins in the diet.

"When both observational data like this and clinical research are considered, it's clear both animal and plant protein foods promote health and longevity," lead researcher, Yanni Papanikolaou, concluded.