The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell

HE BEST DISCOVERIES ARE UNEXPECTED...

It's funny how a random encounter can significantly alter you... In my explorations of the raw diet, I went for my first colonic. During the session, my colon therapist, Cassie Karopkin, was naming a few books that she thought I would be interested in. One of them, The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, has shed new light on my views on the link between disease and diet (more specifically, animal protein and disease).

"One of the most exciting benefits of good nutrition is the prevention of diseases that are thought to be due to genetic predisposition. We now know that we can largely avoid these "genetic" diseases even though we may harbor the gene (or genes) that is (are) responsible for the disease... In my own laboratory we have shown in experimental animals that cancer growth can be turned on and off by nutrition, despite very strong genetic predisposition. We have studied these effects in great detail and have published our findings in the very best scientific journals. As you will see later, these findings are nothing short of spectacular, and the same effects have been indicated over and over again in humans." (p23)

"In chapter three, I described studies in my laboratory showing that when a very potent carcinogen is put into the body, the rate at which it causes problems is mostly controlled by nutrition.... This and other findings suggest that environmental chemicals seem to play a far less significant role for breast cancer than the kind of foods we choose to eat." (pages 165-166)

"The authors of a major review on diet and cancer, prepared for the U.S. Congress in 1981, estimated that genetics only determines about 2 - 3% of the total cancer risk." (page 71)

DAIRY MAY BE HARMFUL?!

I was alarmed and confused as I read The China Study... Why hadn't I heard the messages of the China project sooner (as well as many more messages in the book)? Why weren't the messages being communicated more loudly by the government and larger agencies / institutions that are supposed to be protecting the best interests of consumers, of the public? WHY was I reinforced to believe by so manydifferent sources that cow's milk is an important staple of my infant / toddler's diet?!

"Let there be no doubt: cow's milk protein is an exceptionally potent cancer promoter..." (page 62)

"In the case of Type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas cells responsible for producing insulin. This devastating, incurable disease strikes children, creating a painful and difficult experience for young families. What most people don't know, though, is that there is strong evidence that this disease is linked to diet and, more specifically, to dairy products. The ability of cow's milk protein to initiate Type 1 diabetes is well documented... cow's milk may cause one of the most devastating diseases that can befall a child." (page 187)

"Cow's milk consumption by children zero to fourteen years of age in twelve countries shows an almost perfect correlation with Type 1 diabetes. The greater the consumption of cow's milk, the greater the prevalence of Type 1 diabetes. In Finland, Type 1 diabetes is thirty-six times more common than in Japan. Large amounts of cow's milk products are consumed in Finland but very little is consumed in Japan.

As we have seen with other diseases of affluence, when people migrate from areas of the world where disease incidence is low to areas of the world where disease incidence is high, they quickly adopt the high incidence rates as they change their diet and lifestyle. This shows that even though individuals may have the necessary gene(s), the disease will occur only in response to certain dietary and/or environmental circumstances." (pages 190 - 191)

"...the depth and breadth of evidence now implicating cow's milk as a cause of Type 1 diabetes is overhwhelming..." (page 194)

As a mom, whose daughter's daily caloric intake is comprised of at least 50% of cow's milk, I was astonished and panicked as I read this.

DR. T. COLIN CAMPBELL

Dr. Campbell is a highly regarded professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University. His research became handsomely funded for twenty-seven years by the best-reviewed and most competitive funding sources (mostly the National Institute of Health (NIH), the American Cancer Society and the American Institute for Cancer Research).

Dr. Campbell went on to direct the most comprehensive study of diet, lifestyle and disease ever done with humans in the history of biomedical research. He was chosen to be the project director of what became the "most ambitious international scientific inquiry undertaken in medical history dealing with lifestyle factors and human health. The China Study was in every way an international endeavor." (Healthy at 100; John Robbins; page 125) It was a massive undertaking jointly arranged through Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. This project surveyed a vast range of diseases and diet and lifestyle factors in rural China and, more recently, Taiwan. More commonly known as the China Study, this project eventually produced more than 8,000 statistically significant associations between various dietary factors and disease! (The China Study, page 7)

Interested in quickly learning more about Dr. Campbell and the findings in The China Study?  Do you or does someone you know have diabetes, cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, vision and brain disorders in old age (like cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer’s), and issues with bone health and kidney health?  Browse the videos below from YouTube. They present a lot of the same information in The China Study, including interviews with Dr. Campbell:

Check out T. Colin Campbell Foundation to follow Dr. Campbell's latest efforts.

MY TAKE-AWAYS

Wow. Lots of radical stuff in The China Study! And why didn't anyone tell me this stuff sooner?!

I always knew that eating fruits and vegetables was good for me. The more the better. But, reading The China Study communicates many more critically important things than that. It is rich with fascinating scientific evidence. Readers will focus on different things, depending on their personal interest: multiple sclerosis, breast cancer, heart disease, colon cancer, etc. Me? From a quick review, I got the message loud and clear about what my husband and I should be doing: jack up consumption of vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts,... minimize consumption of animal protein. All that I was reading reinforced my interest in more emphasis on a raw diet and juicing. But, what was panicking me and causing alarm is the question of what to do about my infant / toddler daughter?

We called the pediatrician, who I adore, and she said that "cows milk is the most important part of your daughter's diet right now." So I bought an extra copy of The China Study for our pediatrician to read. I can't figure this out on my own.

In the meantime, I can't get myself to cut out dairy 100% from my daughter's diet, just yet -- even cow's milk. I first need to understand how to replace the benefits of it. So we're hedging our risks and giving my daughter a combination of cow's milk, goat's milk and various nut milks (but what about nut allergies?!). I'll be writing more about this topic as I learn more. In the meantime, I'm reviewing Disease-Proof Your Child (2005) by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., which is providing answers to a lot of my questions and he shares the same perspective as that of Dr. Campbell.

The China Study is a MUST-read! Click on Testimonials to read what leading scientists and doctors are saying about The China Study