The China Study

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The China Study is a non-fiction book by T. Colin Campbell , professor emeritus of biochemistry at Cornell University , and his son Thomas M. Campbell from 2004. Translated into German , the work was published under the title Die "China Study" und hers Astounding Consequences for Lifestyle (2010) and China Study - The Scientific Justification for a Vegan Diet (2011). The German audio book is spoken by Christoph Maria Herbst .

content

T. Colin Campbell led the so-called China-Cornell-Oxford Project - a large-scale epidemiological study sponsored by Cornell University , the University of Oxford, and the Chinese government that was carried out in 69 rural Chinese counties in the 1970s and 1980s. The study rose from around 8,000 participants several hundred descriptive variables on diet , lifestyle , blood - and urine - Biochemistry and mortality rates of around 300,000 individual deaths . Other senior researchers included Chen Junshi, deputy director of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene at the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine in Beijing, Liu Boqi and Li Jun-yao from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences , Pan Wenharn from the Academia Sinica and Richard Peto from the University of Oxford. The study was named the "Grand Prix of Epidemiology " by the New York Times in May 1990 .

In The China Study , the Campbells interpret data obtained as part of this project as well as selected independently conducted studies regarding the relationship between the consumption of animal products and the occurrence of diseases such as cancer ( breast , prostate , rectum ), cardiovascular diseases , obesity , Diabetes mellitus , autoimmune diseases , osteoporosis or degenerative brain diseases . For type 1 diabetes , which is an autoimmune disease , the authors claim that there is “strong evidence” that this disease is associated with diet and, in particular, dairy products. The ability of the "cow milk protein" to trigger type 1 diabetes is "well documented".

The authors come to the conclusion that the lower the proportion of animal foods in the diet, the greater the health benefits. They mainly blame animal dietary proteins in general and casein in particular, as well as a lack of antioxidants in the diet, for the occurrence of chronic diseases in western countries . A maximum consumption of 5% of the total diet of animal protein is recommended. According to the Campbells, there are no nutrients that cannot be better supplied by plants. Even reducing the proportion of animal food from ten to zero percent of the total amount of energy consumed brings health benefits. A proportion of zero percent is optimal, at least for people with a predisposition for a degenerative disease (cf. Campbell 2006, page 242).

It is recommended to avoid animal products in the diet as much as possible, i.e. a vegan diet if possible . In addition, the intake of processed foods and refined carbohydrates such as sugar or flour should be reduced. The authors consider small admixtures of animal products to be “most likely negligible in terms of nutrition”.


reception

Claus Leitzmann points out in his book review that Campbell's conclusion to reduce the consumption of animal protein or to avoid it altogether was particularly criticized by epidemiologists . In their opinion, the correlations determined only allowed limited conclusions and were “not to be regarded as causal”. Errors in the statistical analysis are also criticized by the scientific community. This criticism should be taken seriously, as it relativized some of the authors' conclusions. But this fact hardly diminishes the informative value of the book. Leitzmann points out that of the 18 chapters on 423 pages, only one sub-chapter with 43 pages describes the results of the China Study . The other 380 pages report on Campbell's earlier studies, mostly with rodents, as well as his professional and life experiences. Campbell also analyzes numerous scientific results that have been published by various research groups over the years. Since the book was published in the USA in 2004, there was no knowledge of the past decade. Like the whole food diet, Campbell advocates a plant-based diet with high-fiber, low-processed and regional foods. According to Leitzmann, this requirement is largely undisputed. Campbell's recommendation to significantly reduce the consumption of animal products - especially animal protein - also applies to the whole food diet, but a vegan diet is not explicitly recommended in the whole food diet. It is an individual decision that is usually based less on health than on ethical grounds. The information given by the book authors on the vitamin B 12 supply of vegans was problematic; Ultimately, however, they would recommend supplements . Leitzmann criticizes the subtitle of the second German edition: The scientific justification for a vegan diet ; it promises more than the book delivers. In addition to the health aspects, the book provides interesting insights into the downsides and interdependencies of the food industry, science and politics. It wouldn't leave the reader indifferent, even if he didn't have to become a vegan right away.

Udo Pollmer accuses the book authors of misusing the name of one of the best nutritional studies. A comparison of the book with the original data would reveal deficiencies in the interpretation. The original study from 1990 consistently refutes the statements of the bestseller. As an example, Pollmer examines the author's thesis that people who eat a lot of fat are more likely to die of cancer. For this purpose, the authors have compiled figures from all possible countries in the world, just not from China. Because according to the original China study, there is no connection between fat consumption and cancer. There isn't even a link between fat intake and heart attacks. When asked about the consequences of meat protein, the original data does not offer the slightest hint of a harmful connection, regardless of the cause of death. Pollmer accuses the authors of deliberate deception: There are not too many copies of the original study. The publication was partly in Chinese, the majority of the rest was extensive data material. Ultimately, therefore, no reader would want to check the statements of the bestseller with reference to the original study.

influence

A survey study published in 2017 on the motives for vegan nutrition as a lifestyle found that the book The China Study is particularly popular among participants who live vegan in Germany . The authors came to the conclusion that, although books rarely act as triggers for a vegan diet, they are received after the decision to go vegan has been made. After reading it, the participants mostly felt confirmed.

expenditure

  • T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell: The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health , Benbella Books, 2006, ISBN 1-932100-38-5
  • T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell: The "China Study" and its amazing consequences for the way of life , Verlag für Holistic Medicine, 2010, ISBN 3-927344-91-5
  • T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell: China Study - The Scientific Justification for a Vegan Diet , Systemische Medizin Verlag, July 2011, ISBN 978-3-86401-001-9 (New edition of The China Study - and its astonishing consequences for the lifestyle )
  • T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell: China Study: Plant-based nutrition and its scientific justification , Verlag Systemische Medizin, October 2015, ISBN 978-3-86401-046-0 (3rd edition of The China Study ; paperback edition)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cornell University, Division of Nutritional Sciences: China-Cornell-Oxford Project ( Memento of May 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Clinical Trial Service Unit & Epidemiological Studies Unit, University of Oxford: Geographic study of mortality, biochemistry, diet and lifestyle in rural China ( Memento from September 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Jane E. Brody: Huge Study Of Diet Indicts Fat And Meat In: The New York Times , May 8, 1990.
  4. ↑ T. Colin Campbell, Thomas M. Campbell: The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health , Benbella Books, 2006, ISBN 1-932100-38- 5 , p. 187.
  5. ↑ Martin Pätzold: The "China Study" and the uncritical
  6. ↑ Claus Leitzmann: What do you think of the China Study? In: UGB-Forum 6/12, p. 305.
  7. ↑ Udo Pollmer: Vegans and Meat Eaters in a Duel In: Deutschlandradio Kultur , March 29, 2014.
  8. ↑ Mario Hopp, Tamara Keller, Stefanie Lange, Astrid Epp, Mark Lohmann, Gaby-Fleur Böl: Vegan Diet as a Lifestyle: Motives and Practice , Final Report In: BfR - Wissenschaft , 05/2017; P. 29. ISBN 978-3-943963-74-8 . doi : 10.17590 / 20170928-131646 .

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