Lessons from China...

Yesterday we talked about the ominous rise in Cancer rates around the globe.

I'll be honest, it makes me just a little crazy.  As a mother, a wife, a daughter, I am consumed with a desire to keep my loved ones safe.  But how to do that?  How to protect them from a disease that is growing, despite the billions of dollars spent on medical research?

Perhaps that is why The China Study resonated with me.  The study was incredibly comprehensive in scope.  Thousands of test subjects over more than a decade.  This is no small feat.  Nor are the results.

The Cancer Atlas was just the beginning.  It displays the cancer deaths of common cancers across China.  In doing so it pinpointed huge disparities in cancer frequencies and their locations across the country.  Dr. Campbell took those disparities and began an expansive study with China and England digging into these results.

What Dr. Campbell and his team discovered was literally a radical change in the way we should think about disease and nutrition.

In a nutshell, here is the Jane-speak version of The China Study results... (you remember I am not a doctor, right?)  This is about as lay-person basic as it gets.

When the data was drilled down, it became apparent that the critical variable in the way cancer clustered was the type of diet consumed.

As Dr. Campbell's team cross-listed their results with the Cancer Atlas they found two groups of diseases emerging:  Those that were typically found in economically developed areas - they called these diseases of affluence.  And diseases that were typically found in rural agricultural areas - they called these diseases of poverty.

Here are some of the common Diseases of Affluence:

Cancers - colon, lung, breast, childhood brain, stomach and liver
Diabetes
Coronary Heart Disease

Here are some of the common Diseases of Poverty:

Pneumonia
Pulmonary Tuberculosis
Peptic Ulcer,  Digestive disease
Rheumatic Heart Disease
Parasite Disease

Dr. Campbell's study then added in dietary habits of each group.  This is where it gets really interesting.  You're still with me, yes?

Ok, in rural China, the areas of the agricultural poor, their main diet was primarily whole-food, plant-based with less than 10% animal proteins.  These areas put a spotlight on the Diseases of Poverty,

As certain areas in China developed and accumulated more wealth, people began changing their eating habits, lifestyles and sanitation systems.  And this resulted in diets much higher in animal proteins.  These areas put a spotlight on the Diseases of Affluence.

Now, the hard part... getting honest with ourselves...

What do our diets most resemble?  The wealthy plates of the affluent?  Or the plant-based, whole foods of the rural poor?

Dr. Campbell answered that question for us.  {Spoiler: It's not pretty.}

The common US diet is a rich, extravagant one, consisting of over 80% animal protein, not to mention that it's highly processed, laden with sugar and unhealthy oils.  That makes us fall on the side of the rich and economically affluent...

Which means that we are most likely to be affected by the Diseases of Affluence... remember that list?  Cancer, Diabetes, and Coronary Heart Disease.

Dr. Campbell's recommendation?   You guessed it... It is way past time to adopt a diet that is completely (or mostly) whole food, plant-based, free from animal proteins and processed foods.

So easy to type... so incredibly hard to implement. (I know... I have radically changed how and what I eat these past months... and am anxious to share what I've learned.)

Stick with me...  Tomorrow we start looking at real life case studies and how this study {this radical change in diet and nutrition} is making a huge difference for cancer patients.

The China Study is offering Hope to many who will never hear a word about diet and nutrition from their doctors.

Perhaps it's time to start the Conversation...