In what the New York Times hailed as the “Grand Prix of Epidemiology”, T. Colin Campbell, PhD and his son Thomas M. Campbell II share the startling findings of the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted, The China Study.
The platform of the book advocates a whole foods, plant-based approach to nutrition involving the elimination of meat, dairy products, and refined sugars from one’s diet. It makes straightforward and sound claims which aim to re-define our conception of nutrition. Further, the authors attempt to eliminate confusion resulting from the plethora of ‘fad’ diets and from various interest groups and government agencies.
The China Study is based on overwhelming scientific evidence and supported by an extensive list of academics and nutritional specialists. These include Robert C. Richardson, PhD and Nobel Prize winner, and Marilyn Gentry, President of the American Institute for Cancer Research. Campbell’s personal achievements include a Masters degree and PhD from Cornell University, research and faculty positions at MIT Virginia Tech, and a position as the Endowed Chair of the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell.
During a 20-year collaboration with Oxford University, Cornell University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventative Medicine, Campbell discovered results which led to a nutritional revelation. Through a systematic investigation to determine why cancer rates were much lower in China than in America, Campbell uncovered startling dietary implications.
In America, 15-16 per cent of total calories come from protein and, of this amount, 80 per cent is from animal-based sources. In China, however, only 9-10 per cent of calories come from protein and only 10 per cent of this is from animal sources.
In combination with a vast amount of other evidence, Campbell concluded that diets high in animal protein were strongly linked to cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Further, he insists that there are almost no nutrients in animal-based foods that cannot be better obtained from plant-based sources.
He also addresses what he terms, “diseases of affluence and poverty”.
Campbell describes diseases of affluence as the result of nutritional extravagance and diseases of poverty as the result of nutritional inadequacy and poor sanitation.
According to his findings, diseases of affluence, which include heart disease, breast cancer, leukemia, and diabetes, occur almost exclusively in wealthy nations.
Diseases of poverty, such as pneumonia, digestive disease, disease of pregnancy and many others, however, occur mainly in poor countries. Campbell uses age-standardized comparisons of blood cholesterol to reveal the source of these differences as dietary.
The book exposes myths of the modern, Western diet and its substantive evidence provides further revelations which deserve particular mention:
Genes alone are not the cause of disease. Instead, nutrition strongly influences the activation of genes, both good and bad.
Not only does proper nutrition prevent disease, but also, it can also stop and even reverse it once it has developed.
However, what Campbell’s research does not explain is why such compelling conclusions are widely unknown and often dismissed in the Western world. His career in the field provides unsettling answers for such inquiry. He explains that the avocation of a plant-based diet is a major threat not only to the food, medical, and drug industries, but also to the government agencies and academic research panels who rely on their funding. Under such potent leadership, these organizations have certain restraints in terms of what they are able to report. For example, Campbell describes the recommendations of the government-sponsored Food and Nutrition Board for protein intake as 35 per cent of total caloric intake. In reality, only 5-6 percent is required to replace protein that is regularly released from the body.
Campbell also cites the structure of the medical environment as a contributor to this phenomenon. He explains that the health care field profits from chemical and surgical intervention, not low-cost dietary changes. He also describes many medical professionals as favouring moderation over scientific truth, lacking confidence in patients’ abilities to adhere to dietary changes.
As February begins, so will end the New Year’s resolutions of many with good intentions, but perhaps, misguided ideals and strategies. With an open mind, The China Study may emerge as a diamond in the rough of dietary confusion and hype.
The writer is a Social Sciences student and editorial assistant at Western News.
