T. Colin Campbell: Advocating vegan diet; Ode's top 25 Intelligent Optimist

[Guest guest]

T. Colin Campbell grew up on a dairy farm and raised farm animals

for much of his adult life. Yet at the culmination of a long and

distinguished career, this gentle maverick in his 70s publicly

advocates a vegan diet, believing it to be optimal for the

prevention—and reversal—of the diseases of affluence rampant in the

West, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.

According to Campbell, nothing will contribute more to a healthy

life than a diet based on plants and whole or natural foods.

Campbell, professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell

University, was project director of the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet

and Health Project, a 20-year partnership of Cornell University,

Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine.

Campbell's research began in India, where he studied liver cancer.

When he concluded that affluent families contracted cancer more

easily than poor families, he began research into diet, working

initially with rats. The results showed that rats fed more than 5

percent animal protein contracted cancer, while those fed less

remained healthy. Campbell confirmed these results in China as part

of the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project, through which

hundreds of thousands of people were studied. Poor people in the

rural areas whose diet mostly consisted of plants, rice, tofu and a

maximum of 10 percent animal protein were much less likely to

develop cancer or heart disease than people in cities who ate more

animal protein.

The result of that work is The China Study, published in 2005.

Written by Campbell along with his youngest son, and based on data

collected during the decades-long project, the book lays out the

scientific, nutritional and public health evidence for a plant-based

whole foods diet—including what Campbell sees as its considerable

advantages for the environment. Ideally, fish or meat shouldn't

account for more than 5 to 10 percent of our total diets, he says.

I believe The China Study is the most important book on health, diet

and nutrition ever written. Its impact will only grow over time and

it will ultimately improve the health and longevity of tens of

millions of people around the world.

T. Colin Campbell was nominated as one of

Ode's top 25 Intelligent Optimists by John Mackey.

JOHN MACKEY, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Whole Foods Market

http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/60/t-colin-campbell-advocating-a-

vegan-diet/