Ephemeris of the Mind (Book Review) The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health
Time to read: 2 min read
Book Cover
The findings are consistent.
Review
This is my second time reading this book about nutrition. Like traditional nutrition books, this book recommends a specific diet (namely, veganism) but unlike traditional nutrition books, this book contains a great deal of scientific research, so much so that it reads like an introduction part of a research paper.
The book represents overwhelming evidence that the modern Western diet is the root cause of numerous health issues, ranging from heart disease to cancer. The book focuses on the titular study, where the diet of urban and rural Chinese were compared to one another. The rural Chinese, who subsisted mainly on plants and ate fewer calories were in general found to be healthier than their city peers who ate more meat and more calories. Campbell uses various studies to break down the different biological pathways that nutrients in meat cause different health issues. When I first read the book, I went vegetarian for half a year to test out the effects of a plant-based diet; I had to stop the diet because I wasn’t getting enough protein and was losing body mass.
Re-reading the book now, I found that Campbell’s reductionist approach to science is very troubling as it misses the holistic picture. Nutrition is incredibly idiosyncratic and there is no best diet; while a plant-based diet is probably healthier than a traditional Western diet, it’s not really a one-size-fits-all situation. Campbell recommends taking different nutritional supplements to make up for the lack of certain nutrients in a vegan diet and he also suggests that studies done on mice showing that certain factors can reverse cancer are directly applicable to humans. Both statements are misleading. Campbell also downplays the context of the nutrients, such as the associated lifestyle and environment differences between the urban and rural Chinese population.
While most people can probably benefit from eating more plants and less meat in their diets, the best diet from an individual probably falls somewhere along the spectrum between veganism and the traditional Western diet, not just to the extreme of veganism.
Conclusion
It's a compelling argument for veganism but one should definitely consult with their doctor and do more research on the topic outside of this book.