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Thanks to many large scale studies over the past twenty
years we have been able to learn enough about diet and
disease to seriously reconsider the outdated American
diet which is relatively high in the consumption of
animal based foods. Based on widespread and repeatable
studies, more and more people are embracing
vegetarianism each year or at least consuming animal
products more selectively and less frequently. Within
four years of John Robbins book 1987 “Diet for A New
America”, an expose of details about the reality of
meat, poultry and dairy in America, beef consumption in
US dropped 18%!!! The China Study by Colin Campbell,
PhD, the most comprehensive study on nutrition ever
conducted, involving
880 million people" over the course of twenty years,
has been an indispensable aid in this respect.
Although raised on a diary farm and a big advocate for
the American diet, after 30 years of work and
8,000 statistically significant correlations between
animal food and disease, he
become one of the world’s most outspoken advocates of
vegetarianism.
He concluded “the story of protein is part science,
part culture and a good dose of mythology”.
The following is a tiny expose of some of the adverse
health affects you should be aware of when it comes to
consumption of animal products and two diseases of
affluence, cancer and heart disease.
CANCER.
One in two
American men and one in three American women will get
cancer, the second leading cause of death today. The
American Cancer Society attributes at least 75% of
cancers to lifestyle and environmental factors.
The Adventist Health Study, the largest American study
ever on vegetarianism, following 34,192 participants
from 1976-1988, showed vegetarians had ½ the rate of
colon cancer, 2/3 the rate of prostate cancer and a
tendency for less breast, lung and uterine cancer.
During the 1980’s three separate studies implicated the
preservative nitrites in hotdogs (also found in cured
meats, fish and bacon) had a significant impact on the
risk of developing childhood leukemia.
A number of international and migrant studies have shown
an association between breast and animal fat consumption
(but not vegetable fat) as well as increased risk
related to charbroiled meats. A meta-analysis of
several studies concluded that processed meat is
associated with an increased risk of stomach
cancer. In 1997 the World Cancer Research Fund and
American Institute for Cancer Research commissioned an
expert panel from 20 countries and in its report
concluded that “lacto-Ovo, lacto-vegetarian and vegan
diets have decreased incidence of… colon, breast and
prostate cancer.” Several studies suggest that milk and
dairy products too may increase the risk of prostate,
breast and kidney cancer. What is striking is that
these are the top three cancers in North America today!
HEART DISEASE.
every 24 hours 3,000 Americans have heart attacks equal
to the number who died in Sept. 11th 2001.
2,000 die of these people die. A landmark study by the
J. Am. Med. Assoc. found of 300 soldiers killed in Korea
(average age 22 years) 77% had gross evidence of heart
disease.
The Adventist Health Study found vegetarians have ½ the
rate of high blood pressure. The correlation between
meat consumption and vascular diseases (such as stoke)
in a prospective study in Norway comparing heart disease
trends through the war when meat was scarce to other
periods reported that vegetarians had
15-25% lower mortality from ischemic heart disease than
non-vegetarians.
The largest study to date
on heart disease and vegetarianism with 76,000
participants in the UK concluded that the death rate
from heart disease was 31% lower in vegetarian men
(independent of exercise, alcohol and other factors).
OTHER.
There are many other studies that show repeated links
between the consumption of different animal related
foods and the development of common diseases in affluent
societies today. These include diabetes, Alzheimer’s,
autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus),
osteoporosis, kidney stones, obesity, are more.
CONCLUSION.
The renowned Seven Day Adventist Study found that
vegetarians on average live up to 9 years longer than
non-vegetarians, although the other lifestyle factors
such as exercise were not taken into account.
Dr.
Campbell of the China study concluded that it is the
same vegetarian diet that is good for prevention of most
diseases of affluence plaguing us today. These numerous
correlations between diseases that affect so many of us
in Canada today and the consumption of animal products
is certainly striking and thought provoking. In next
months newsletter (part II) I will discuss my views as
to why these links exist and give some suggestions as to
how we can make better food choices based on these
findings.
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