Learning About Nutrition

So I was lurking around Amazon's website checking out their books on nutrition. I want to eat right, be fit, lose weight, do it the healthy way - not the fad diet way - you know the kind - lose 10 lbs quick, but gain 15 lbs even faster when you stop. Yup, I've done that before.

And along the way, I really want to be a healthy person. I have fears that one day I won't be around to see my kid's grow because of my genealogy. There are many diseases/health issues that run rampant in my family, and if I can help it, I really don't want any of them!

I came across this book called "The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted, and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long Term Health" By T. Colin Campbell. Someone had suggested it was a good read a while back, and since I came across it I checked out the reviews. Great reviews. So when I had the cash, I got the book (through Mr. Rebates of course!)

The book is very scientific, so if you choose to read it, do it when you are fully awake. But thankfully, the author puts it in very easy to understand terms for those of us who are not scientists. It basically goes over a century's worth of scientific studies and combines them along with studies done personally by this author and many of his colleagues.

When I decided to buy the book to read all I knew was it was a book about nutrition. I had no idea that the gist of the book is: whole foods and plant-based proteins good. Animal products not so good. Actually animal products bad, very bad. In fact, all of the studies compiled in this book (there are references to each and every tidbit of information in this book for you to verify for yourself) point to a plant based diet as more beneficial for combating and even reversing diseases and illnesses such as but not limited to Breast Cancer, Alzheimer's, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Heart Disease and Bowel Cancers.

The author does not tell you that you must adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet, but instead he lets the research and studies point to what they will and simply points out the facts shown through the studies that a diet with 20% or more animal products in it is very likely to accelerate and promote diseases listed above and many more. And shows that the more beneath the 20% margin of a daily calorie intake of animal protein was, the healthier each test study subject was. Much healthier in fact.

To each his own, really. However, when I see several decades worth of studies from hundreds of different references not from just one or two, I have tendency to believe it is entirely possible that it is true.

This book reinforced my decision to become a vegetarian. But even if that is something that you feel is totally off limits for you, I still encourage you to look into this book, especially if you or someone you know has health problems. I wish I would have had this in my hands about 9 years ago, maybe it could have helped my Dad.