| | |  | Diets | Home » » » The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted And the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, And Long-term Health | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | 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.
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| T. Colin Campbell | | Paperback:
| 419 pages | | Publisher:
| BenBella Books | | Publication Date:
| May 11, 2006 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1932100660 | | Product Length:
| 8.93 inches | | Product Width:
| 6.1 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.96 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.27 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.9 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.98 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.02 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.32 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 1180 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
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2265 of 2437 found the following review helpful:
 Every doctor, teacher and parent needs to read this book!Jan 26, 2005
By Howie Jacobson, PhD
"Online Marketing Evolutionary"
T. Colin Campbell has made a career of challenging the conventional wisdom around nutrition, and this book is the culmination of his work. His integrity, brilliance, and unflinching courage shine through every page.
The main point of this book is that most nutritional studies that we hear about in the media are poorly constructed because of what the author terms "scientific reductionism." That is, they attempt to pin down the effects of a single nutrient in isolation from all other aspects of diet and lifestyle.
While this is the "gold standard" for clinical trials in the pharmaceutical world, it just doesn't work when it comes to nutrition. Given that the Western diet is extremely high fat and high protein compared to most of the rest of the world, studies that examine slight variations in this diet (i.e., adding a few grams of fiber or substituting skim milk for full fat milk) are like comparing the mortality rates of people who smoke five packs of cigarettes a day vs. people who smoke only 97 cigarettes a day.
Campbell's research, which he describes in a very accessible and engaging fashion, has two tremendous advantages over the typical nutritional study. First, there is the China Study itself - a massive series of snapshots of the relationship between diet and disease in over 100 villages all over China. The rates of disease differ greatly from region to region, and Campbell and his research partners (including some of the most distinguished scholars and epidemiologists in the world) carefully correlated these differences with the varying diets of the communities.
It's not lazy "survey research" either - the researchers don't rely on their subjects' memory to determine what they ate and drank. The researchers also observed shopping patterns and took blood samples to cross-validate all the data.
The second amazing part of Campbell's research method is his refusal to accept any finding without taking it back to his lab and finding out how exactly it works. In other words, we discover in The China Study not only in what way, but precisely how, the foods we eat can either promote or compromise our health.
The book is part intellectual biography / hero's journey (although Campbell is always wonderfully humble - there's no trace of self-congratulation, just a deep gratitude for what he has experienced), part nutrition guide (the most honest and unflinching one you'll ever read), and part expose. The final section leaves no sacred cow standing, and names names! From the food industry, to the government, to academia, Campbell calmly reports on a coverup of nutritional truth so widespread and insidious that all citizens should be enraged.
I have a PhD in health education and a Masters in Public Health - and I can honestly say that no book has shaken my worldview like this one. Anyone interested in health - their own, or that of their family, friends, or community - must read this book and share it. Campbell has started a revolution. Skip this work at your own peril.
1065 of 1151 found the following review helpful:
Why, oh why didn't I take the blue pill?Dec 24, 2006
By R. Pinkerton
"RP"
I love juicy steaks, delicious cheese, and big bowls of ice cream. I love to eat out at nice restaurants. And I really like eating without thinking about the operations and consequences of our dietary industrial complex. But I don't get to enjoy these things any more because I read the China Study. Like Neo in the movie the Matrix, you have a choice, take the blue pill and believe what you want to believe, take the red pill and you will be exposed to the reality of the world we live in. The China Study is the red pill.
This is a fascinating book on the capitalism, politics, and human behavior that drives the food industry. It is also frighteningly insightful into the health consequences of an affluent societies' diet. I am not a scientist so I don't know if this is good science. But I did work ten years ago as a government attorney on the USDA dietary guidelines and was surprised by the political influence and acceptance of what the author would call scientific reductionism. I also worked for a man who lived and worked until he was 100 years old, and he had a dietary regime very similar to that recommended by the China Study: not vegan nor vegetarian, but largely based on plants and whole foods rather than animal based foods. So I found this book very persuasive - in fact, too persuasive. It scared me straight so I eat healthy now and that's good for the long term...but I don't enjoy it like I used to.
116 of 124 found the following review helpful:
The China StudyAug 23, 2011
By Cheryl
I first became acquainted with this book by watching a segment this spring (2011) on the Dr. Oz show. I rented the book from the library and read it thoroughly (renewed it a maximum number for times and then decided I needed to own it). My husband and I decided to change our diet and try a vegan life style. We are in our 60's and want to maintain healthy weights (we've lost 35 and 20+ lbs)over the past four months and plan to enter our older years with few health problems. It was amazing to read about all the health situations which can be prevented by eating correctly--even how cancer cells can be turned on and off.
This book provided an excellent understanding of how important it is to eat correctly and the results we will see. My biggest disappointment is that when we share our reasons for our new eating plan with friends and family they aren't more interested in exploring this book and learning about how they can become healthier. Our feeling was, after reading this book, that we couldn't afford to not do this. I think people basically don't want to make changes, even if they will be healthier.
71 of 75 found the following review helpful:
Ideological Heart of the Bill Clinton DietJan 16, 2012
By F. Tyler B. Brown
Due to recent publicity from Bill Clinton's post-surgery dietary changes, and the recent release of the film, Forks Over Knives, this 2006 book is benefitting from a resurgence of attention. After reading this book, I could only think- I wish I had found this book sooner.
I have read a lot of books on food, diet, and nutrition- and almost always they have left me disappointed. I find nutrition books are either focused only on one food type or nutrient, or push some gimmicky diet (a la the Atkins Diet), or are too esoteric and free from any grounding in sound science, or are mind-numbingly boring and poorly written.
This book from Dr. Colin Campbell is none of those things. "The China Study" takes a macro, bird's eye view of what we eat. For example, Campbell writes, "As you shall see, considering how networks of chemicals behave instead of isolated single chemicals is far more meaningful." This book is an attempt to look at the whole picture. As Campbell writes, "This is the story of how food can change our lives." Indeed it is.
Dr. Campbell, in this book, espouses a whole food, plant-based diet. He very intentionally does not refer to the diet he encourages as "vegan", due to the politically charged nature of that word, and because he is not strictly-speaking a vegan. This book is entirely apolitical. Its author makes it clear that his motivation for his dietary behaviors is purely health, not to protect animals or be a steward of the environment (although the latter he does mention as a bonus implication of his choices).
Dr. Campbell begins his book, in the chapter "House of Proteins" laying out a convincing argument of why animal-based proteins (particularly casein, the protein found in cow's milk) are harmful to the body. To support his thesis, Dr. Campbell falls back on his life of research (most notable of which is "The China Study", which Chou EnLai, the Premier of China in the early 1970s funded when he was dying of cancer. It is the largest and most comprehensive demographic study ever conducted that looks at what people eat and their levels of general health. Dr. Campbell was one of the team of researchers appointed to conduct this study.)
Dr. Campbell never stretches the findings of his studies too far, and is quick to make clear that the correlations found in his studies does not necessarily mean causation- that is, just because populations that consume more animal fats and animal-based proteins have high incidences of "diseases of affluence" (cancer, heart disease, stroke) does not mean that these proteins cause such diseases. But the combination of the correlations, with the clear and powerful way that Dr. Campbell outlines his observations of how animal-based proteins can disrupt some of the body's most essential organic processes, allows one to comfortably make a strong probabilistic guess that these type of foods are best eliminated from one's diet.
After Dr. Campbell outlines the various diseases, their possible relationships with animal-based proteins, he arrives at suggestions in the chapters "Eating Right: Eight Principles of Food and Health" and "How to Eat."
From there Dr. Campbell answers the question that surely so many readers will have through the first half of the book, which is, "If you're right, Dr. Campbell, why am I just hearing about this stuff now?" In the chapter "Science: the Dark Side", Dr. Campbell outlines how the food industry (of which his parents, ironically, were a part- they were dairy farmers) and government agencies (some of which he used to sit on- and with which he has firsthand experience interacting) are compromised, and are not sources of sound nutritional advice. Dr. Campbell outlines the way in which powerful corporations with clear monetary interests fund these boards. It is a blatant conflict of interest that has profound implications on how and what our country eats.
The other convincing case that Dr. Campbell makes for why you do not hear his argument in the mainstream dialogue is the fact that hospital networks, who can derive up to 65% of their income from heart-related surgeries and medicines, and who employ surgeons who are faced with mountains of debt from years of study and who stand to make gobs of money from conducting surgeries, are not ready or willing to adopt preventive approaches to heart disease.
Dr. Campbell cites the case of surgeon Dr. Esselstyn, who proposed to the Cleveland Clinic a preventive "arrest and reversal" nutrition program for heart disease patients as a first step before surgery. The hospital said they had no interest in such a program according to Dr. Campbell; and yet, some of the trustees and surgeons of the very same hospital would send their own wives and children to Dr. Esselstyn for his nutritional advice. Clearly, these were people who believed in the preventative power of Dr. Esselstyn's advice, but who also had interests so entrenched that it was easier for them to maintain the status quo than adopt Dr. Esselstyn's more preventative approach.
Dr. Campbell in the chapter "Scientific Reductionism" attacks the micro focus of research that simply looks at individual nutrients and vitamins. He demonstrates how the recommendations of groups like "National Academy of Sciences Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer Committee" only "apply to foods as sources of nutrients- not to dietary supplements of individual nutrients." Dr. Campbell vehemently opposes the notion that "`specific components of the diet can be modified' to the benefit of one's health." He argues that foods like lean pork meat or fat free milk are an absurd notion that ignores the macro implications of available research: that the mere presence of animal-based proteins in your diet has the potential to disrupt important biological processes in the body, and that these harmful consequences cannot be avoided through the modification of animal proteins, but only through the elimination of them entirely from the diet.
As I noted in a review of the film, Forks Over Knives, the central thesis of this book is communicated in that work too, and something is even gained through the medium of film. Although, one should not, I believe, watch the film in light of reading the book, but rather should watch it in addition to reading this book. There is much to be gained from reading this book, from absorbing Dr. Campbell's thesis as he clearly and powerfully lays it out step-by-step.
That President Clinton's adoption of Dr. Campbell's whole food, plant-based diet has given this book a revival that it so deserves, I am forever grateful. That the former President had the choice of the best medical advice money can buy, and that he ultimately decided to follow a path Dr. Campbell sets out in this book, no longer surprises me. For anyone concerned with how what we eat impacts how we feel and how we live our life, for anyone struggling with, or at risk of: cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity- I highly recommend this book. There may be a large portion of this book that you do not agree with, which is fine. Regardless of how much of this book you agree with, there will be at least morsels of sound science, delivered in a distilled, comprehensible style that you will be able to absorb, implement in your life, and benefit from.
618 of 696 found the following review helpful:
Fantastic!Dec 26, 2005
By Doxie
This is a fantastic book that's loaded with so much eye opening information, it's the kind of book that I'll read again. I feel if you don't convert to a whole food plant based diet after reading this book, I don't think anything in the world will convince you....the evidence is just overwhelming.
As for my story, I was on statins for high cholesterol for over 6 years....and a moderate to high dose at that. Over the years, my cholesterol kept rising gradually and my total cholesterol was just over 300 and a triglyceride level in the mid 200's without statins. The moderate/high dose statin brought my cholesterol down to the range of high 190's to low 200's. Over the years, I tried to get off the medication and I was told to try to eat a low fat diet, don't eat shrimp, lobster, etc. I went off the statins, tried this diet for several months and none of this helped....actually my cholesterol went higher....I was told it's hereditary, there's nothing you can do, and I should take the statin and that I would be on them indefinitely. Well, after reading the book "The China Study", there's a few paragraphs tucked in this great book mentioning that the major factor causing high cholesterol is eating any animal protein. The only meat I ate at the time was fish and chicken and small portions of it....and maybe beef a few times a year, if that. I have to say I was skeptical and figured what do I have to lose, so I went on a whole food plant based diet (vegan diet)as Dr. Campbell in the book suggests. I started that last November (same time I stopped taking the statins), and I had my cholesterol checked this past summer and was stunned at the result....my total cholesterol went from over 300 without statins, high 190's/low 200's on moderate/high does statin, to 175 without statins on Vegan diet, with good LDL and HDL. I'm guessing next time it's checked it will be even lower. Also, my triglycerides went from the mid 200's to 64! All as a result of just giving up animal products....amazing. Now I wonder....why wasn't I ever given this option by the doctor's I've seen over the years? Even if a person doesn't want to give up animal products completely as I have, why isn't this advice offered as at least an option to a patient.....and let the patient decide? What a concept!
Of course, I feel my cholesterol and triglycerides levels are just the tip of the iceberg on how my health has improved on a plant based diet....the only regret?....I wish I started the vegan diet earlier....I never have had so much energy and just downright have never felt so good....seriously...this is not an overstatement.
As to all the doubters out there with harsh reviews, I say to each is own but ignore the evidence at your own risk. I've seen many of my friends and family sick by what I feel this book has proven by many studies to be nothing more than a bad diet for the most part and most of them are looking for a magic pill to save them....and the old standby argument that it's all genetic doesn't appear to hold much water either....again, proven by studies in the book.
My friend, family, and co-workers know how I eat now and wonder why I want to live forever....that's not the issue....quality of life over quantity of life...isn't this what we should all be after?
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