Being a vegetarian may prevent some kinds of cancer

Being a vegetarian is good for your health and may reduce the risk of getting some types of cancer later in life. Researchers in New Zealand and Britain tested 60,000 people - some of them meat eaters, some fish eaters, and others vegetarians - and found that being a vegetarian can protect you from certain cancers.

According to the study, vegetarians appear to be better protected against cancers of the blood, stomach and bladder. But experts do not know if vegetables give people special protection, or if meat contains something that causes mutations in the body. "The links between diet and cancer risk are complex," a spokesperson for the group Cancer Research, who carried out the test, told the BBC. "More research is needed to see how big a role diet plays and which specific dietary factors are most important."

While this is positive news for vegetarians, experts say people should treat the findings with caution, and that more studies are needed to back them up.