📚 "The China Study" - Colin Campbell
Full title of the book: "The China Study. Results of the Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition and Health" - Colin Campbell, Thomas Campbell. "The China Study" is a book that in many ways changed views on nutrition throughout the world, arguing for a whole-food plant-based diet as the foundation of health.
This is my favorite and most voluminous book in terms of observations and the evidence presented in it. The book was written by Colin Campbell with his son, Thomas Campbell, and published in 2005. It became a summary of more than 40 years of the scientist's research career. Campbell joined forces with scientists from Oxford and China to conduct a large-scale study in 65 counties of China. This study revealed thousands of relationships between diet and chronic diseases, based on different nutrition in rural areas, in cities, in places where crop farming or animal husbandry predominates, whether there are bodies of water or not, warm or cold, etc.
Since the author wrote the book over 40 years and wrote it in memory of his father, the book actually became the purpose of his whole life. It all started with his dad, who at 50 suddenly fell ill with cancer and died quickly, although he himself was a farmer and ate very "healthy" and clean food by modern standards, since it was grown for himself. It was then that the author wondered, what is the cause? Why did this happen? The author began to look for a solution.
Just at this time an influential Chinese official fell ill with cancer. He decided to find out the cause of his illness. As a result, extensive regions of the country with a huge number of people were involved in the study. The regions were divided by the predominance of one or another food. Everything was tracked, down to the purchase of food and its consumption. As a result, it was revealed that the more whole plant nutrition in the diet, the healthier people were. They had far fewer diseases, including cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. Further, a relationship was established between cholesterol in the blood and the type of nutrition, and the more cholesterol in the blood, the more diseases a person has, especially cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Even a link was revealed between diseases and the diet of a specific place, that is, if a healthy rural resident moved to the city, he developed the diseases prevalent in that city. The opposite situation was also observed, if a sick person moved to a rural area and ate more plant food, he was cured. The same was observed with different races of people. When changing the place of residence and type of nutrition, the diseases that were inherent in this place began to predominate and those that were rare in this place went away. The link was clear and traceable and it was connected with the type of nutrition. More details in the book itself.
Colin T. Campbell — American biochemist, professor emeritus at Cornell University. Interestingly, he grew up on a dairy farm, and at the beginning of his scientific career was a convinced supporter of the benefits of animal protein. This was his personal and professional experience.
Campbell himself eventually completely changed his lifestyle. At about 50 years old, he and his family began the transition to a plant-based diet, which took them about ten years. Today he is one of the world's most famous supporters of plant-based nutrition for the prevention and treatment of diseases.
Campbell's story is a vivid example of how a scientist, guided by facts, can revise his deepest beliefs:
- The basis of the book: A large-scale study conducted in the 1980s in 65 counties of China with the participation of Cornell and Oxford universities, which revealed more than 8000 relationships between nutrition and disease.
- The main conclusion: The main factor influencing the development of "diseases of abundance" (cancer, diabetes, heart disease) is the consumption of animal protein (poultry and fish too). The more of it in the diet, the higher the risk of these diseases.
- The main recommendation: Transition to a whole-food plant-based diet. Giving up meat (animal, poultry, and fish), dairy products, and eggs in favor of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains can not only reduce the risk but also help reverse the development of chronic diseases.
🔗 Link to the book: LitRes