Does a Vegan Diet Reduce the Chances of Getting Cancer?
Tiffaney Irving
Southern New Hampshire University
IDS-402, Wellness
Michelle Gifford
September 4, 2022
What you eat fuels your body, the opposite can be said also, what you consume can also
harm your body. We know that fats and sugar are bad when eaten in excessive amounts, they lead
to obesity and diabetes. But there is great controversy over whether or not animal meat and by-
products are good for us, is it supposed to even be in our diet? I have been an on and off
vegetarian my whole life from the time I was 13. My sisters are having health issues and are
hoping to either eliminate or slow down their ailments by eating a vegan diet. They have read a
study that is very well known in the vegetarian and vegan communities called the China Study
and decided that this was the correct diet for them. But is it? We need complete proteins for our
muscles, bones and hormones and the most efficient way to get the protein is by eating meat or
animal by-products like eggs and cheese. We also need fats that can come from meat and animal
by products to help absorb our fat-soluble vitamins. Though there are many scientific studies that
prove with a full diet of a healthy array of all the vegetables, fruit, whole grains, nuts and
legumes you can get all the proteins and fats that you would get from eating a steak
In 1944, members of the Vegetarian Society in the United Kingdom first coined the term
vegan defined as the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from
animals (Radnitz, Ni, Dennis & Cerrito, 2020). But the vegan diet has been around longer than
the 1940's, it can be traced back to the first man and woman in history, Adam and Eve. In the
bible, God makes many references to the food of the earth, but it isn't until the great flood that
God tells Noah he can eat the animals on the ark (Zeolla, 2001). This is 2,000 years of pure
veganism and according to the bible, people could live up to 900 years (Zeolla, 2001). There is a
whole diet based off of Adam and Eve's diet, it is called the Hallelujah Diet. Which is a vegan
diet of 85% raw and 15% cooked pant-based foods (Lang, 2020). Many that follow this diet
claim that is has cured or reduced their cancer masses and that they feel better. to include the
founder of this diet, Pastor George Malkmus, who after receiving a cancer diagnosis turned to the
bible for answers (Lang, 2020).
The vegan diet is a huge part of many religions. Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism all
believe in the concept of Ahimsa, which means kindness and non-violence towards all living
things (Tesfamariam, 2020). Because veganism is so deeply rooted in their religion, the people of
India and Japan have been practicing veganism for