Rest in peace, China Study

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  1. Lynne Parker’s avatar

    Interesting. I think it important that if one does eat meat, one should strive for the most humanely raised animal—grass fed beef for example. Cows were never meant to eat corn. ( I actually wish corn had never been invented) We buy our chicken from a local farmer who uses no hormones, antibiotics, etc. The birds are all free ranging. When we can afford beef we do get grass fed and what an amazing difference between that and the stuff you get at the grocery store. Not only the taste but the texture itself is better.
     

  2. Chris Kresser’s avatar

    I couldn’t agree more, and I’ve said as much on the blog several times.

    Nevertheless, in China the evidence still shows that eating meat (regardless of where it comes from) is not unhealthy and that the strongest correlation between a dietary variable and disease was not meat, but wheat.

  3. megan’s avatar

    I’ve never been healthier since switching to an almost all meat/fat diet 10 months ago. I eat almost no plants, absolutely no starches or sugars and high fat. My skin is good, my colour is good, my memory is better, my sense of direction is better, I’ve lost a ton of weight, my cavities don’t hurt anymore, I have more stamina, I’m not hungry all the time, my hair and nails are strong and shiny, I don’t get pms anymore, my mood is dead stable & calm……
    Ditch the grains. Ditch the sugar. Eat the animals. and sure, do it ethically and support ethical husbandry.

  4. Isaac Rivera’s avatar

    Mysterious absence of China Study pushers on the comments of this post…

  5. Chris Kresser’s avatar

    Mysterious absence of China Study pushers on the comments of this post…

    Yes, they’ve gone awfully quiet all of a sudden.

    Don’t worry, I’m sure Campbell will publish a completely unconvincing and unsubstantiated response soon.

  6. Carole Crisp’s avatar

    Very interesting! I cannot tell you how many books, dvd’s, and online information I have read in the past few years trying to resolve what I believe about this subject. Ironically, while in the airport last week (returning from a MonaVie conference where at the same time Suzanne Somers was having an alternative conference and I ran into Dr. Julian Whitaker), I saw the China Study in the bookstore and “almost” bought it realizing that is one of the last books I hadn’t picked up to read but had heard so much about!
    Shame on me for straying from my own faith. 1 Timothy 4:3-5… They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
    That being said, I do believe this refers to “real, wholesome, unadulterated” food, not the garbage so readily available to us.
    Thanks for clarification once and for all!

  7. Jen’s avatar

    Thanks for this post!  I’m currently taking a class where I have to read The China Study and write a paper.  Oy!  You’ve given me some great sources for the paper ; ).

  8. Chris Kresser’s avatar

    I hope your teacher isn’t vegan! Or if she is, that she’s open minded.

  9. FoodRenegade’s avatar

    Thanks for the link to the debate between Campbell and Cordain. I haven’t seen it before (which surprises me!).
    ~KristenM
    (AKA FoodRenegade)

  10. jamie’s avatar

    Yes, I do believe that some people need to eat meat. If not most people. Those are just my beliefs, but I this, is interesting, to say the least. Veganism is ok, but I do not think you can take ANY diet and say that it is the right one for every human being. Veganism is plain not healthy, for some people. The fact of the matter is that some people just cannot absorb enough nutrients from vegan diets alone.

  11. Pdazzler’s avatar

    High Chris,
    Excellent post.   For years I supported reduced animal protein but that changed when I found certain nutrients were lacking in my diet.   I now eat red meat at least once weekly although it is usually lamb, buffalo, wild game or grass feed & finished beef.
    I have searched for years for John Yudkin’s research works on sugar and animal protein all to no avail.  Seems some of the wonderful research accomplished in the 1950′s & 60′s has mysteriously disappeared from the public arena.  I did find significant reference to it in Linus Pauling’s “How to Live Longer and Feel Better” from the 1980′s.
    Keep tweaking the thought processes.   -  Pdazzler

  12. Nick’s avatar

    I have not studied or even read the China report I really do not have to I am in the best shape of my life since I stopped eating meat,dairy and WHeat!  I eat mainly raw fruit,vegtables nuts and seeds.  That is what is good for me.  I do not have an agenda but it does not take a study by a vegan or the meat and dairy industry to see who is the fatest and unhealthy people and what they eat;  Sugar and wheat yes but to counter that what is healthier meat or vegtables?
    Each person is different but the higher the acid producing food the higher the chance of cancer and  heart disease which re the 2 hihgest rates of death in the US.  Which foods are high in acid and which are high in Alkaline no sudy or industry can hide the facts!

  13. jamie’s avatar

    to Nick: I found the video on youtube “Is Meat Always Acidifying?” to be very insightful.
     
     

  14. Khrystyna’s avatar

    Uggh I have to admit I used to be a big fan of the china study back in my vegetarian days (before I knoew better basically). No I look at it and wonder how I could have been so easily won by some sensationalist writing, but as a veggie I like Campbell himself saw what I wanted to see. Been primal for about 4 months now after a over a decade of vegetarianism and often veganism and I feel fantastic! No more IBS for me yay!
    Denise is such an inspiration, what a talented woman, I wish I had a fraction of her abilities :(

    http://foodfloraandfelines.blogspot.com/

  15. Todd S.’s avatar

    Sounds suspiciously like the same “methodology” used by one Ancel Keys – which started us down this whole low-fat highway to unhealth.

  16. Todd S.’s avatar

    @nick
    what is healthier meat or vegtables?


    Well, I would say look at evidence and you tell me.  I don’t think a case can be made that one is healthier than the other.  Both provide many of the same nutrients, but both also provide many things the other cannot.  Completely eliminating one or the other will eventually lead to problems as most hardcore vegans find out after a while.  I’ve yet to meet someone who has eaten nothing but meat for more than a couple weeks at a time so I can’t speak to that.

  17. Khrystyna’s avatar

    @ Todd
    I came across someone on a nutrition forum who was trying a meat only diet, they had only been on it a few months and seemed to be enjoying themselves and feeling good. You’d have to get plenty of organ meat into you though I’d say.
    If it were me and I had to choose, I’d go for meat, as far as i know vitamin C is one of the only nutrients you can’t get from meat and if you’re low carb enough you need very little anyway so I’d say you’d fare better a bit longer. You wouldn’t last long if you weren’t eating any real protein.

    http://foodfloraandfelines.blogspot.com/

  18. Sue’s avatar

    Mysterious absence of China Study pushers on the comments of this post…

    They’re all posting somewhere over at 30 Banananas!

  19. freelee’s avatar

    Couldn’t let you guys down.
    Take a read of the discussions, unfortunately Denise did not perform the study correctly, actually far from it.
    http://www.30bananasaday.com/group/debunkingthechinastudycritics?xg_source=activity

  20. Chris Kresser’s avatar

    Ah, it was inevitable. Unfortunately, none of those critiques you linked hold water. Denise’s analysis was impeccable, as many working physicians and researchers in the field have attested to. “Robert” makes so substantive criticism about her work other than to say it should be peer reviewed. By his own admission, he hasn’t “checked her math”.

    This is all so predictable. It’s just human nature. People will go to great lengths to defend their worldview, regardless of what the evidence shows. I’ve said it a million times before: “you can’t fight faith with facts.”

  21. Todd S.’s avatar

    Sue called it on the 30 Bananas bit.  Too funny.
     
    “you can’t fight faith with facts.”
    I would argue that’s the only way to fight it.  Sadly, you can’t fight the faithful with facts.  Or rather, you can’t get them to observe.

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