ABSTRACT
People living in the developing world consume mostly protein of plant origin, and in poorer countries, protein-energy malnutrition remains a major public health problem. In the developed world, where the protein of animal origin is readily affordable, this problem has no longer been on the agenda. So, it has become a somewhat unpleasant surprise that when one social prob lem is solved, industrialized countries unexpectedly face another health haz ard. It turned out that the replacement of foods of plant origin with foods of animal origin, notably meat products and dairy products, increased cancer in cidence, especially the risk of breast, colon, prostate, and rectal cancers. These cancers are virtually absent in the populations of some countries of the de veloping world and generally, the overall cancer burden is strikingly lower there (Parkin et al., 1992). The association between protein intake and cancer incidence was supported by migrant studies that revealed that the cancer risk in migrants who moved from low-risk areas to high-risk areas changed to match the risk level of the host population within one or two generations, and there were also rapid changes in food preferences (for a recent review, see Bingham, 1999).
