The China Study, Chapter One

One of the most important books of all time is T. Colin Campbell's The China Study. If you have read the book, you already know why I make this bold statement. If you have yet to read the book, I cannot begin to beg and plead enough with you to immediately rush to your library, online or f'real bookstore, or enlightened friend and obtain this book.

I read this book approximately a month ago, and my life has never been the same. When I would have urges to 'cheat' on raw, I would always go to cheese with the misinformed thought that 'it can't be that bad.' Uh, false. This book explains clearly and specifically the dangers of animal protein and, best of all, the author backs it with his decades and decades of his own scientific research. T. Colin Campbell has little to gain, aside from the revenue from his book. The China Study is not filled with product placement or nudges to attend some expensive retreat. It is just information; pure, simple, stark, and frighteningly beautiful information.

For those who are still hesitant and clinging to their blocks of Romano, I have decided to write a Cliff's Notes version of each chapter. If what you read and in the posts to come naggle at some far corner of your brain, please do not deny your urge and purchase the book. Also, as the book was published in 1998, I have done a bit of research on my own to update the statistics to our current day. My notes will very much be in Sarah-speak, which pales against Campbell's succinct manner of presentation. Forgive me! (Or don't. I promise I won't cry.)((Too much.))

Chapter One

Heart Disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, arthritis, Alzheimer's Disease, impotence (do I need to go on) can be largely PREVENTED and even REVERSED!! HOLY COW!



How? Lean close to your computer screen and I will tell you.

Psst.

Eat right and live a healthy lifestyle.

What?

No, seriously, that's it. The foods we eat largely determine our health. And, the sad fact is, we're not healthy. Despite spending twice more on health care than any other country, we are ranked 37th in the world for our health. It has been predicted that our health care costs will kick our face at the cost of 16 trillion dollars, and that 84% percent of our population will be overweight or obese.

In 1998, 12 million people had diabetes. Today, 24 million people have diabetes and 57 million people are prediabetic. 1 in 4 deaths in 2008 will be attributed to cancer. If you go to the American Cancer Society's web page, they make a small reference to cancer being linked to high amounts of ingested red meat, low intake of fruits and vegetables, and obesity. They never address animal protein as a whole and certainly do not tell you that animal protein is a promoter of cancer. Last year alone, 7000 Americans died from physician error, medication error, and adverse events. This touched my own family - my cousin's healthy father-in-law died after taking his PRESCRIBED medications. This is madness, truly. We do not have to suffer insulin injections, chemotherapy, and the crushing cost of medical care. Our families do not have to watch us deteriorate into bloated husks. What can we do to reverse this devastating prognosis?



Eat a diet of fruits and vegetables, devoid of all animal protein. The end.

How can Campbell make this assertion? 74 grant-years of research. With his colleagues, Campbell lead studies such as an investigation of liver cancer in Phillipine children and their consumption of a mold toxin, aflatoxin, a nationwide program of self-help nutrition centers for malnourished preschool children in the Phillippines, a study of dietary factors affecting bone density and osteoporosis in 800 women in China, a study of biomarkers that characterize the emergence of breast cancer, and a nationwide, comprehensive study of dietary and lifestyle factors associated with disease mortality in mainland China and Taiwan, known as the China Study. In fact, the China Study is still active over 20 years later! Campbell has nothing to sell - he markets no superfoods, leads no special and expensive retreats. In fact, he has the opposite beginning as the son of a dairy farmer. He spent most of his graduate work improving the 'quality' of dairy. It was this research, combined with the above studies, that unfolded the stark and frightening information surrounding our beloved animal protein.

Why do we not know this? Why isn't this information being shouted from the rooftops? To be honest, I am not too interested in the whole black helicopter government-is-out-to-get you approach. Neither is Campbell, but he does make a few damning points from his experiences on government and private councils. It's enough for even a dismissive cynic like me to raise an eyebrow.

Another reason is that science is obsessed with oversimplifying our health - they try to pinpoint it to a single vitamin or nutrient and miss the point - plant-based foods in their whole forms give us an intricate symphony of vitamins and nutrients. One instrument is not enough to complete the whole song.

A final reason is that we are drowned with twits out to profit from our sheepish desperation for health. We can eat limitless bacon and cheese and be healthy? REALLY!? (No.) Some of the most influential weight loss programs are based on NO scientific fact and are developed by salesmen with NO nutrition training. Ticket for one on the failbus, plz.

The solution to our health is simple. It does not require pills, supplements, or surgeries. It only requires that we take responsibility for our own health and make informed decisions. Hippocrates once stated, "There are, in effect, two things: to know and to believe one knows. To know is science. To believe one knows is ignorance."