Since I'm still working on this weeks post, I wanted to share a link with you that's been hiding in my bookmarks. Written by the always controversial low carb advocate Anthony Colpo, the article focuses on the legitamcy of The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. While the article is full of good info, Colpo is unfortunately obsessed with attacking the author.

"The China Study: More Vegan Nonsense!

Why T. Colin Campbell's Book is Extremely Misleading.

I've always held it as a maxim that the more a person boasts about how honest, ethical and trustworthy they are, the more you should be wary of them. In his book The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health, T. Colin Campbell goes to great pains to assure us he is a wonderful and worthy disseminator of health and nutrition advice. Throughout the book, Campbell repeatedly reminds us of his glowing academic qualifications, his appointments to a multitude of government advisory panels, his prolific receipt of government grants, and his numerous published papers. The implicit message is: "I'm ethical, I've got impeccable credentials, and I know what I'm talking about. You can trust me."

Well, I've never sat on a government advisory panel, never attended even a single university lecture, and cannot yet boast of having the same volume of published literature as Campbell, but I'm smart enough to know most of the claims made in his book are utter rubbish. Campbell might be deeply impressed with his own credentials, but after reading The China Study my trust in his ability to deliver accurate nutrition information ranks somewhere between zilch and zero.

Protein Prejudice

Campbell is sadly misinformed when it comes to the topic of protein, something especially regrettable for someone whose "entire professional career in biomedical research has centered on protein". Within minutes of beginning his book, even the dullest reader will quickly realize that Campbell is on a zealous mission against animal protein, which he believes to be public healthy enemy number one.

Campbell's anti-animal protein bent began while working in the Philippines, where he observed that children from the wealthiest families reportedly ate the most protein and had the highest rates of liver cancer. In itself, this observation is next to useless. Wealthy inhabitants of third world countries are often the first to adapt Western-style diets, which include not just more animal foods but a vast array of nutrient-depleted processed food items loaded with refined flours and sugars. Why blame animal protein--a perfectly natural food for the human species, one that we have been eating with great benefit for our entire 2.4 million year history--yet ignore the role of the nutrient-depleted garbage that we only began consuming during the last 150 years? It is the proliferation of the latter--not animal protein--that corresponds with the rise of degenerative diseases in the Western world.

According to Campbell, his protein suspicions were confirmed when Indian researchers found that feeding casein (a type of milk protein) to rats increased their susceptibility to aflatoxin-induced liver cancer. Campbell and his colleagues began replicating these experiments and repeatedly found that casein did indeed trigger cancer in susceptible rodents. According to Campbell, "The safe proteins were from plants, including wheat and soy."

Extrapolating from the deleterious effects demonstrated by casein in rodents, Campbell goes on to warn that all animal proteins are a deadly threat to humans.

Campbell's position constitutes little more than a totally unscientific leap of faith. Casein is one of the major protein-containing fractions of milk; the other is whey. Campbell does not mention that while casein is often observed to promote cancer in rats, whey protein does the exact opposite. Numerous experiments have shown that rats lucky enough to be fed whey experience greatly reduced tumor incidence when compared to rats fed casein, beef, soy or standard rat chow[Badger TM][Hakkak R][Hakkak R][McIntosh GH][Papenburg R][Bounous G].

Preliminary research suggests a similar effect may even occur in humans. A pilot study by researchers at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada followed 7 cancer patients who were fed 30 grams of whey protein concentrate daily for six months. Five patients had metastatic carcinoma of the breast, one of the pancreas and one of the liver. Two patients exhibited signs of tumour regression, 2 showed stabilisation of the tumour, while the disease progressed in the remainder but with a trend toward higher lymphocyte glutathione levels. Glutathione is a potent antioxidant and whey consumption has been shown to raise glutathione levels in the body. The researchers concluded that "These results indicate that whey protein concentrate might deplete tumour cells of GSH and render them more vulnerable to chemotherapy."[Kennedy RS]

Whey protein concentrates and isolates are now widely available in health food stores and supermarkets. But nowhere in The China Study does Campbell discuss the potent anti-cancer effects of whey in rats, and nowhere does he call for further research into the promising cancer-fighting benefits of whey in humans. I guess that would conflict with his rabid venting against animal protein..."

Check out the full article here.