Monday, August 8, 2011

Current Read

Have you ever heard of this book? I just started The China Study (on my kindle!), and it's amazing.
This book is based on the author's four decades (yes, decades!) of biomedical research, including the results from a twenty-seven-year laboratory study, and 750 other primary sources. Wow. It's pretty hard to argue with that much empirical evidence. Some of the findings from all this research include:
  • "Dietary changes can enable diabetic patients to go off their medication.
  • Heart disease can be reversed with diet alone.
  • Breast cancer is related to levels of female hormones in the blood, which are determined by the food we eat.
  • Consuming dairy foods can increase the risk of prostate cancer.
  • Antioxidants, found in fruits and vegetables, are linked to better mental performance in old age.
  • Kidney stones can be prevented by a healthy diet.
  • Type 1 diabetes, one of the most devastating diseases that can befall a child, is convincingly linked to infant feeding practices."
In one study they were able to turn on and turn off cancer growth in mice by changing the amount of protein consumed . . . and let me just say, you did NOT want to be a mouse on the high-protein diet. (High protein being defined as the amount we humans routinely consume.) The type of protein consumed was important as well. Casein, which is the main protein in cow's milk, promoted all stages of the cancer process; however, plant proteins, even when consumed at high levels, did not promote cancer.

And that just scratches the surface. I think I read all of that in the intro! If you want to learn more, you should definitely read this book. It's completely founded on research findings and is pretty rock solid.

What good books are you reading right now?

2 comments:

Caroline said...

I know of someone else who read this book & I'm pretty sure he lives by it. I guess I should check it out, huh? I'm readng "The Help right now b/c I accidentally bought it from ITunes...I thought I was getting the audioversion. Anyway, its very good and I want to finish it before the movie comes out!

Lizzie said...

Yes, definitely read it Caroline! You'll have to let me know whether The Help book or movie is better :)