Re: The China Study

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 14:09:41 +0200, "MMu" <brilhasti@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>> There are many so-called health concerned people that feel that an
>> unnatural, low-fat, plant-based diet is the way to go. Unfortunately,
>> this low-fat myth is based upon studies that supposedly show a
>> diet/heart link. When you look at the data you will wonder how this
>> link has managed to last this long.
>
>Can you provide evidence (that is: studies) that plant based diets are bad?
>Also: please add some evidence that diets high in fat and low on plants are
>beneficial.
>..I would love to read that.
>

I don't ever recall making the statement that there are studies that
clearly show high fat diets to be beneficial. Please do not
misrepresent me.

Now, what I *have* been saying in this ng was that studies that try to
show a diet/CHD link are flawed or actually prove the opposite. i.e.
Seven Countries, MRFIT, etc. The Framingham study data don't show a
diet/heart link. To try to pin the blame on fat or cholesterol as the
cause for CHD is ridiculous and has yet to proven.

Keys hand-picked seven countries that would prove his conclusion
(before the study had even been done). Sure enough, the study results
agreed with his theory of a diet/CHD link. Unfortunately though Keys
ignored other countries that would have produced much different
results. If he had included data from the 22 countries from which data
was available, the study would actually have shown no conclusive link
between diet and CHD! Dishonest to say the least.

All that has resulted thus far from studies attempting to show a
diet/CHD relationship is that there is no direct causal effect. You
have results showing high instances of CHD correlating with high serum
cholesterol levels but you also have results showing high serum
cholesterol levels and low to fairly low instances of CHD! The Swiss
are a prime example.

By plant-based do you mean vegan? If that is your definition of
plant-based then, yes, they are sub-optimal. There have never been any
vegetarian civilizations in human history. You may find some that
follow largely plant-based diets but pure vegetarian, uh uh.

Humans did not begin consuming large quantities of carbohydrates
until the domestication of animals and cultivation of plants. The
detrimental results can be seen by studying the fossil records. This
isn't exactly news.

I recall reading an article on a BBC web site that reported that
eating less meat was conducive to a longer life. They were clear to
indicate "less meat", not "no meat". Excerpt below:

"But completely avoiding meat was not the healthiest diet, the
researchers found.

For every 100 deaths among vegans, there were 66 among vegetarians and
60 among occasional meat eaters."

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2838083.stm

If I encounter any useful studies in my Internet travels, I'll be sure
to post them here.

rr
.