I just finished reading The China Study, and it’s a book so important that I will dedicate this page to is and regularly add quotes from the book to this page for reference. Actually, the book is easy to read and recommend you do so. [And if I feel compelled to add comments, I'll put them in these brackets.]
In the mean time here is the text from the main site to get this page started:
What do 100,000 readers know that you don’t? Learn more about this best selling, ground-breaking book, embraced by thousands who want to improve their health and their lives. Summarily ignored by the mainstream media, the ground-swell support speaks volumes about the importance of this provocative and timely book by Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II.
The science is clear. The results are unmistakable.
Change your diet and dramatically reduce the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
Respected nutrition and health researcher, Dr. T. Colin Campbell reveals the truth behind special interest groups, government entities and scientists that have taken Americans down a deadly path
Even today, as the low-carb craze sweeps the nation, two-thirds of adults are still obese and children are being diagnosed with Type II diabetes, typically an “adult” disease, at an alarming rate. If we’re eating healthier, why are Americans stricken with heart disease as much as we were 30 years ago?
Drawing on the project findings in rural China, but going far beyond those findings, The China Study details the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The report also examines the source of nutritional confusion produced by powerful lobbies, government entities, and opportunistic scientists. The New York Times has recognized the study (China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project) as the “Grand Prix of epidemiology” and the “most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease.”
“After a long career in research and policy-making, I have decided to step ‘out of the system.’ I have decided to disclose why Americans are so confused,” said Dr. Campbell. “As a taxpayer who foots the bill for research and health policy in America, you deserve to know that many of the common notions you have been told about food, health and disease are wrong.”
“I propose to do nothing less than redefine what we think of as good nutrition. You need to know the truth about food, and why eating the right way can save your life.”
Early in his career as a researcher with MIT and Virginia Tech, Dr. Campbell worked to promote better health by eating more meat, milk and eggs — “high-quality animal protein … It was an obvious sequel to my own life on the farm and I was happy to believe that the American diet was the best in the world.”
He later was a researcher on a project in the Philippines working with malnourished children. The project became an investigation for Dr. Campbell, as to why so many Filipino children were being diagnosed with liver cancer, predominately an adult disease. The primary goal of the project was to ensure that the children were getting as much protein as possible.
“In this project, however, I uncovered a dark secret. Children who ate the highest protein diets were the ones most likely to get liver cancer…” He began to review other reports from around the world that reflected the findings of his research in the Philippines.
Although it was “heretical to say that protein wasn’t healthy,” he started an in-depth study into the role of nutrition, especially protein, in the cause of cancer.
The research project culminated in a 20-year partnership of Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, a survey of diseases and lifestyle factors in rural China and Taiwan. More commonly known as the China Study, “this project eventually produced more than 8000 statistically significant associations between various dietary factors and disease.”
The findings? “People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease … People who ate the most plant-based foods were the healthiest and tended to avoid chronic disease. These results could not be ignored,” said Dr. Campbell.
In The China Study, Dr. Campbell details the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and also its ability to reduce or reverse the risk or effects of these deadly illnesses. The China Study also examines the source of nutritional confusion produced by powerful lobbies, government entities, and irresponsible scientists.
The China Study is not a diet book. Consumers are bombarded with conflicting messages regarding health and nutrition; the market is flooded with popular titles like The Atkins Diet and The South Beach Diet. The China Study cuts through the haze of misinformation and delivers an insightful message to anyone living with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and those concerned with the effects of aging. Additionally, he challenges the validity of these low-carb fad diets and issues a startling warning to their followers.
Thanks for the tip about The China Study! I just bought the book and am really enjoying it so far. I have been a near vegetarian almost my entire life. But over the past several years I have begun to eat seafood and chicken. Still, I have never been an extreme meat lover (particularly red meat which I don’t like much) and have always preferred to eat small servings of meat accompanied by lots of vegetables and whole grains. But despite the wisdom of this book, I’m not sure if I can go back to a completely plant based diet. I personally feel better when I have a little bit of meat in my diet, because it helps me resist the temptation to overeat empty calories and convenience foods. I figure that I’m probably healthier by eating a little bit of meat and low-fat dairy than not eating meat or dairy and overeating crap because I’m hungry all the time. It seems like one of the key messages from the book is to eat small servings of animal proteins and try to get the majority of protein from plant based sources.
Comment by Alexa — December 31, 2008 @ 12:26 am
Alexa – I understand and agree completely with what you’ve said.
For me it’s turned out that I need that 10% leeway because it’s hard to totally avoid the animal products.
To not eat meat hasn’t been that hard surprisingly, but all the other animal products are everywhere in everything.
And worst of all I love meat. Anyway, I stopped eating meat half way through the book and went 90% plant-based by the time I had read all of it. As you say, even if you are off the recommendations by a bit you’re way better off than you would otherwise be. In the studies sited in the book the bad stuff started happening at the 20% mark anyway, so we can only do the best we can do.
Thanks for your comment Alexa and for sharing your experience.
DrD
Comment by doctordilday — December 31, 2008 @ 12:41 am
[...] First, I noticed Dr. Todd Michell’s article, Beware of “recession obesity” where he talks about how convenient fast food is and how cheap it is. Well of course it’s cheap – we tax payers subsidize it’s production: see The China Study. [...]
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[...] Another reason to read and heed The China Study. [...]
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[...] In case you missed this Extra T.V. show last night, here it is. The author, T. Colin Campbell, PhD and his son Thomas M. Campbell were on talking about their book, The China Study. [...]
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