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The China Study
Bridget Walsh on 11 September, 2011 |

A massive proportion of our species is dying because they don’t have access to enough nutritious food. Another massive chunk is dying because they DO have access to nutritious food, but would rather stuff themselves with greasy, processed rubbish and let the good stuff go to waste. Food clearly plays a large part in the wellbeing of our bodies and our species, but people seem a little slow on the uptake of this simple fact.

The connection between food and wellness is a lengthy subject. To make the concept a little more tangible, I’ll use the connection between animal protein and cancer. It’s likely that you know someone who has cancer, beat cancer, or died from cancer and it’s subsequent complications. I know a few. It’s scary, tragic and an unfortunate reality for far too many of us. Carcinogens are widely recognised as the cause of cancer, but people seem to refuse to accept that the cause of something, the ‘seed’, is really only the first part.

“Just like seeds in the soil, the initial cancer cells will not grow and multiply unless the right conditions are met… Promotion is reversible, depending on whether the early cancer growth is given the right conditions in which to grow… It is a push-pull process. The profound importance of this reversibility cannot be over-emphasised.” (The China Study, 2006)

Without the fuel required to progress, the seed will not grow. It may lie dormant for many years, or it may, in fact, die off. However, when that seed is given what it requires to flourish, it will. A seed WANTS to grow. It wants to spread. It will try to get it’s nourishment from whatever source it can, and dammit, it will do it’s darnedest to bloom. Guess what is helping to provide a big chunk of that fuel for the cancer seed? Animal protein.

Resist the urge to accuse me of another vegan rant, and first take into consideration this book, The China Study (T. Colin Campbell, 2006). In short, it is an academic collation by a Harvard professor and his team, based on a lifetime of research and a specific 20 year study of the links between food and illness. This book is a revelation. Get into a library or a 2nd hand bookstore and read it. It will likely save your life.

“Part Medical Thriller, Part Governmental Expose and Part Nutrition Manual. Consumers are bombarded with conflicting messages regarding health and nutrition... Dr. Campbell cuts through the haze of misinformation and delivers an insightful message to anyone living with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and those concerned with the effect of ageing. "The New York Times" has recognised the study ("China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project") as the "Grand Prix of epidemiology" and the "most comprehensive large study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease".” (Amazon.co.uk)

Cancer is predominantly a lifestyle disease, a disease of affluence, along with diabetes, heart disease, obesity. We have fostered it’s growth to epidemic proportions through the way we choose to live our lives. So the answer is simple: improve your way of life, improve your diet, and lessen the impact that diseases of affluence will have on your family.

Findings of research and books like The China Study are why you hear about patients being put onto strict plant-based diets in an attempt to manage the damage of illnesses like cancer, or heart disease. Not only do we have the power to prevent these illnesses through our diet, but reversal is possible too. Studies show cancer can literally be turned on and off, depending on the proportion of animal protein in one’s diet.

“The next logical question was whether plan protein, tested in the same way, has the same effect on cancer promotion as casein [a form of animal protein, that makes up 87% of cow’s milk]. The answer is an astonishing ‘NO’. In these experiments, plant protein did not promote cancer growth, even at the higher levels of intake.”

On a most fundamental level, The China Study proves that the consumption of animal protein is a massive contributor to diseases of affluence that effect our Western society. Plant proteins do not. We can literally turn some diseases on and off, simply by being more aware of the food and nourishment we give our bodies.

Do some research. Read about the links between what you’re putting into your body, your kids’ bodies, your friends’ bodies and how it could have a good chance of killing you. Most importantly, find out how you can get the same, if not better, nourishment, nutrients and enjoyment out of a diet free from animal-products, as well as more yogic life, a little more free of the guilt that rests on all of our shoulders (whether we want to acknowledge it or not).

“Good health is about being able to fully enjoy the time we do have. It is about being as functional as possible throughout our entire lives and avoiding crippling, painful and lengthy battles with disease.”

Like I said, read this book. It will likely save your life.