The China Study

So, the name does not do justice to this book. This is an owners manual to feeding the human body, with the scientific proof as to how and why it works. This should be required reading in every high school in the country. Not an easy read, but it is written in plain enough english that it is completely comprehensible. And when it began to sink in I was awed.

First, the recommendation: Eat real food. Simple as that. Now this is not a vegan diet, with soy dogs, pasta, cheese substitutes and veggies crumbles. This is a plant based diet where the food should be recognizable as it came from the plant when you buy it. The target is to get below 10% animal protein in your diet. Better yet, below 5%, and if you have one of the diseases of affluence, down close to zero. A vegan, plant based diet would be ideal. In following this way of eating, a bowl of fresh vegetables simmered in chicken stock would be preferred over a bowl of pasta. Don't sweat the small stuff, just eat real food. Humans can get all essential nutrition from a whole food, plant based diet. This diet is rich in antioxidants that are not available in animal based foods and it is also high in dietary fiber that binds to toxins and unwanted acids in the intestine to whisk them away. However, a plant based diet is missing one thing-cholesterol. Cholesterol is not essential in the human diet and in fact it is down right mischievous in the human body.

In an nutshell, the standard American "Healthy" Diet that is recommended by a good majority of our health profession is killing us, literally. This study, which takes place over many, many years and records a massive amount of data, found that diseases of affluence rise in a population as the consumption of animal protein increases. It also found that these same diseases can be halted and even reversed when animal protein and sugar are removed from the diet. What are the diseases of affluence? Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. YES! You read that correctly. In this study, the above diseases were halted and even reversed by diet. WHY IS THIS NOT ON THE FRONT OF EVERY NEWSPAPER IN THE COUNTRY!!!!

Well, there are many factors here:

Doctors have a mere 8 years to learn everything about the human body and so nutrition is not always heavy in the course load.

A doctor must follow a treatment plan that can be controlled. Your medicine intake can be controlled and monitored accurately by you doctor, your eating habits cannot. Your doctor can't always wait to see if you will change your habits-it could be disastrous in many cases.

Our government heavily subsidizes many agricultural concerns and several of our government agencies that watch over our food supply and its human value, were started to promote food. The USDA states in its Strategic Framework that it is responsible for expanding markets for our agriculture, among other activities that put it at odds with telling us to drop meat and dairy.

And so, now that I have this knowledge, what do I do? I have three first hand experiences, that again, prove the merit of these claims. I have always felt better when I ate a diet heavy in whole foods. I have a freaking freezer full of grass-fed beef! So-baby steps.

At the end of "The China Study", there is information on attending eCornell and receiving a Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition. I decided that I needed more knowledge on the science, and this became baby step number 1.