The China Study
Referred to as the "Grand Prix of epidemiology" by The New York Times, this study examines more than 350 variables of health and nutrition with surveys from 6,500 adults in more than 2,500 counties across China and Taiwan, and conclusively demonstrates the link between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. While revealing that proper nutrition can have a dramatic effect on reducing and reversing these ailments as well as curbing obesity, this text calls into question the practices of many of the current dietary programs, such as the Atkins diet, that are widely popular in the West. The politics of nutrition and the impact of special interest groups in the creation and dissemination of public information are also discussed.
Stats for nerds
30recommend
112mentions
88people
2007–2026years
31% recommend51% neutral18% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Several things not considered:
1st and most important, many of the researches discussed had significant flaws. Smokers, trans-fats, etc.
The China Study rules: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health cancer, prostate cancer, and bowel cancer, authored by T Colin Campbell, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. His son is an MD and contributed.
The book is based on the China–Cornell–Oxford Project, a 20-year study that looked at mortality rates from cancer and other chronic diseases from 1973 to 1975 in 65 counties in China, and correlated this data with 1983–84 dietary surveys and blood work from 100 people in each county.
Findings ? CHOLESTEROL intake is the #1 enemy (meat versus plant based diet).
Olive oil is the #1 lipid most similar to the lipids of the human body.
3 years ago I went on a ground flaxseed craze, lasted 2 years. 2 ounces fresh ground every morning. I only stopped when my gastro saw stomach irritation from the rough grind inside my stomach walls (colonoscopy).
Last year I had a calcium score done, result: ZERO
Recently my cardiologist ordered a carotid ultrasound and a whole heart ultrasound, I had no problems, I just wanted a "benchmark" at 71 yrs. It all came back normal.
My total cholesterol has been lower than 110 my entire adult life. Now it is 140. I take one fish oil cap every night with lecithin. I am a lap swimmer all my adult life.
So where's the damage from my anecdotal experiment with fresh ground flaxseed ?
- The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_China_Study
it’s the Red Pill of diet and nutrition (not for everyone)
- I don't supplement and have been vegan for a decade, and a vegetarian for 5 years before that. My yearly blood tests show everything has been fine since day one. I eat what most people do, just the vegan version. Luckily plant-based meat alternatives are everywhere these days.
A lot of the nutritional misinformation out there is deliberate to scare people off. It's not a conspiracy theory to say that the meat and dairy industries spend millions promoting their products and scaring people off vegetarian and vegan diets.
My advice is to watch the documentary Forks Over Knives and maybe read the corresponding book, The China Study. I personally avoid vegan websites and groups as their meals are super complicated to make. I don't have time for that.
Map out your fave meals then looks at how to make them vegan. It's super easy and you really don't have to worry about nutrients etc. People have been desperately searching for some nutrient that negates a vegan diet, and they think they found one in B12. They have not. 40% of Americans are B12 deficient, and this is after livestock being pumped full of B12 supplements themselves!
- There are important differences. Losing weight is almost always a good thing, however you also have to look on the inside of the body. What makes ateries clog? And here comes meat and diary into play. Ppl tend to look on a lean muscular body but do not consider what makes the body work.
Pls have a look into Michael Greger's How not to die, or Colin Campbell China Study.
Vegan is not always healthy. Plant based, unprocessed food does the trick. Fatty and salty french fries are technically vegan. There is a lot of junk food on the vegan side, which is also highly processed and features lots of sugar. It is not enough to stop eating dead animals, drinking milk or eggs.
However dismissing meat is inevitable for a healthy diet.
- I’m always skeptical when I see counter studies to businesses that have a strong financial foothold on certain industries.
Case in point, did the meat industry have any weight in this study? Generally I feel through certain lobbying efforts theses types of industries will produce a counter study that gets enough backing to be read on the nightly news and now people go back to the way things were or are confused.
Having read the China Study, I have all the convincing I need about the role of meat in our diets and I’m fine with that.
- After watching the documentary Forks Over Knives and reading The China Study, I switched to a whole food plant based diet two years ago. The experimental, clinical, and epidemiological evidence convinced me of the danger of eating animal products. I dropped 20 pounds without even trying and my weight is stable. I walk for 20 minutes at lunch on weekdays. My cholesterol is under 150. I feel more energetic and my mood is slightly better. I occasionally eat animal products, for example when I eat at my mother’s house.
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