The China Study
The China Study is one of the classics on diet. It is a book on nutritional science developed from long-standing studies performed in China for 20 years by Colin Campbell, PhD. Colin noticed that specific regions in China had significantly lower incidences of diseases. These regions were primarily on a vegetarian diet.
When he looked into it further he noticed that the countries that ate a lot of protein in their diet had much higher incidences of certain diseases. The United States was one of them. He then started a long term health study and this book was one of the results of the study.
The information is compelling and it will stretch you to think about protein in a whole new way. I have read the controversies on the subject as well. If you read the book and take the information of the 20 year study it will give you a different way of looking at the different types of protein.
I started reading this book in 2009 and it resonated with me. I had been vegetarian for several years and I felt confident that my diet was healthy. The book gave me some reasons to consider the dairy foods I was still consuming. Over the past few years I have been on my own mission to learn from the experts in the field of nutrition to help me on my quest to find the best diet for me.
It is a process for each of us to learn about what is best for ourselves as we get bombarded with a lot of advertising which may not always be the best source of information. We know that we need to consume protein, but how much? What types of protein are best for humans?
This is one of those books that will challenge the way you think about the food you eat. I think challenging ourselves is a good thing as it makes us think outside of the box we have been living in.
Are we carnivores, omnivores or herbivores? An interesting topic indeed.
