China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health by T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell (With)

From the Publisher

This exhaustive presentation of the findings from the China Study conclusively demonstrates the link between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. 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 65 counties, representing 2,500 counties across rural China and Taiwan. While revealing that proper nutrition can have a dramatic effect on reducing and reversing these ailments as well as obesity, this text calls into question the practices of many of the current dietary programs, such as the Atkins diet, that enjoy widespread popularity in the West. The impact of the politics of nutrition and the efforts of special interest groups on the creation and dissemination of public information on nutrition are also discussed.

[This] elaborate study of rural Chinese gives big points to the health value of their plant-based diets.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Susan Nitzke, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Description:This book has 18 chapters divided into four sections titled: The China Study, Diseases of Affluence, The Good Nutrition Guide, and Why Haven't You Heard This Before?
Purpose:T. Colin Campbell, an emeritus professor from Cornell University, and his son, Thomas M. Campbell, coauthored this book to present "a new framework for understanding nutrition and health, a framework that eliminates confusion, prevents and treats disease and allows you to live a more fulfilling life." This broad purpose is partially achieved by summarizing the evidence that favors eating only plant-based whole foods.
Audience:This book is written for the lay public. The senior author is the J. G. Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University.
Features:This book presents a mix of personal experience, population studies, and biomedical research to support the health benefits of a totally vegetarian diet. The benefits of this eating pattern are claimed to be wide-ranging — from losing weight to reducing risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and diseases of the bones, kidneys, eyes and brain. Unfortunately, the authors are too quick to dismiss studies that oppose or weaken their conclusions.
Assessment:Students and health experts who wish to examine the evidence that favors a plant-based diet may find this book to be a useful and interesting summary. The book includes hundreds of notes and references, adding to its value for such scholarly applications. However, its value as an unbiased guide for the generalpublic would be difficult to justify.

Library Journal

In the 1980s, a comprehensive study of the effects of diet on disease and lifestyle was conducted among 6500 adults in 65 counties in rural China. Campbell (nutritional biochemistry, Cornell Univ.) examines the results of that study and compares the predominantly plant-based Chinese diets with the high consumption of meat and dairy products in the West. Drawing on hundreds of references and his 40-year career as a nutritional biochemist, Campbell compellingly argues that animal-based foods are responsible for high rates of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity, Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, and the effects of aging. He challenges long-held beliefs about the nutritional benefits of animal products and points out the confusing glut of contradictory information disseminated by the food industry. Campbell urges readers to eliminate meat and dairy from their diets to achieve better health and longevity. His study will add a new dimension to the public debate about the role of plant-based foods in the human diet. Recommended for nutrition and health collections.-Irwin Weintraub, Brooklyn Coll. Lib., New York Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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