Eating Meat May Provide Protection Against Cancer: Canadian Study

Chandra Philip

8/30/2025|Updated: 8/30/2025

Eating meat may provide protection against cancer, according to a new study out of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

The study findings, published in the Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism journal in July, looked at nearly 16,000 people and their diets using data from 1988 to 1994. Researchers examined how much animal and plant protein the individuals consumed, and whether they died from heart disease, cancer, or another cause.

The study did not find that eating meat was linked to an increase in the risk of dying from cancer or heart disease—instead, the data showed eating more meat had a “modest but significant” link to reduced cancer death. There was no similar finding for those who ate plant protein.

Research supervisor and professor in McMaster University’s Department of Kinesiology Stuart Phillips told The Epoch Times they undertook the study to analyze a 2014 paper that claimed protein increased cancer mortality risk.

“We just didn’t believe that the protein was as damning as the previous authors had said,” Phillips said during a phone interview.

“I was a little surprised at the animal protein being protective,” he said. “It’s not a big effect, but it’s notable” and “statistically significant,” Phillips added.

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“I think the only thing that I would say I was surprised at is that the hypothesis going into our analysis was the plant protein would be negatively associated with mortality. That is, it would be longevity promoting, but it wasn’t.”

Phillips said in a McMaster news release that there has been some confusion about what kind of proteins are healthy.

“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,” he said.

Researchers found there was no association between how much protein or the type of protein and risk of death, according to the article.

Phillips confirmed that funding for the study was provided by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, saying different industries have funded studies before and without the money there was no research.

“If there’s no research, there’s just a vacuum and then nothing to push back against what we consider to be flawed analysis,” he said during the phone interview. “I’ll take my lump sum of funding, and I know it doesn’t look great, but anybody can do the analysis. The data is publicly available.”

Researchers said in the article that previous studies that reported information contradictory to the McMaster study’s findings had an uneven number of participants. They also said other studies had a smaller number of cases that led to “artificially inflating risks” when comparing the different proteins.

When asked if he would be changing his eating habits, Phillips said he was a “dyed in the wool omnivore.”

“I like animal protein. I like plant protein. I eat plenty of protein because I’m an advocate for a little bit higher protein than most people would say that they need,” he said.