A Plant Based Diet

Nutrients are essential in order to sustain your body. Nutrients are packed into fruits and vegetables. Humans also need to be consuming fiber. FIBER FIBER FIBER. Is fiber the end-all? No. But foods that contain fiber are plant-based and packed with nutrients. There is NO fiber found in animal product. The ideal diet then is a plant based diet, meaning most of the diet (about 90%) is comprised of fruits and vegetables (mostly raw), grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

I recently read a solid book with solid research methods called The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health.

I found this review of the book very acurate:

The dietary patterns in China are strikingly different from Western countries, the major difference being the consumption of foods of animal origin. Animal protein intake, for example, is 10-fold greater, on average, in the US. than in China. Although the biology of the diet and disease relationship is infinitely complex and is easily misunderstood when interpreted in a reductionism manner, the main nutritional conclusion from this study is the finding that the greater the consumption of a variety of good quality plant-based foods, the lower the risk of those diseases which are commonly found in western countries — cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc… Based on these and other data, Campbell hypothesize that 80-90% of all such diseases could be prevented before the age 90.

The same dietary factors which increase blood cholesterol concentrations among Americans at the much higher ranges also increase cholesterol at the lower concentrations of the Chinese — these include, increased intakes of dietary fat and animal protein and decreased intakes of dietary fiber and legumes. Moreover, the lower the blood cholesterol, the lower the risk for various cancers. There is no evidence of a cholesterol threshold below which further decreases in disease would not occur. These two facts are quite remarkable, in that they suggest that almost any consumption of animal-based foods –higher in fat, lower in fiber may increase blood cholesterol –among many other biochemical changes from a very low level, this to be followed by a significant increase in the prevalence of the degenerative diseases many other analyses of these same data for individual diet-disease relationships support this interpretation.

Chinese consume more total calories per unit of body weight, yet have far less obesity than Americans, probably accounted for both by greater physical activity and greater consumption of a low fat, plant-based diet. Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus is a major cause of primary liver cancer. Together with the highly significant nutritional findings, this cancer appears to be a viral/nutritional disease, not a viral/chemical carcinogen disease as previously thought Campbell’s data on this question are more comprehensive than all others combined, thus his conclusion on the role of nutrition, even though different, is highly relevant. Control of the prevalence of this disease may be best achieved through immunization of young children. Prevention of disease progression among individuals who suffer chronic hepatitis infection may be best achieved through strict adherence to a low fat, plant based diet.