The China Study

Western societies regard meat and dairy products as the foundation of physical strength and health.

The body uses proteins as enzymes, hormones, supportive tissues and other functions. Many consider animal-based proteins “higher quality” because they contain necessary amino acids. Some people don’t believe plants contain protein, or regard their protein quality as poor. But “higher-quality” proteins don’t necessarily lead to health. More protein doesn’t equal better health.

In the late 1960s, Dr. T. Colin Campbell worked on a project to close the “protein gap” in the Philippines. His work focused on growing peanuts, but the poisonous carcinogen aflatoxin often contaminated them. Aflatoxin contamination led to liver cancer, even in children. These children ate diets high in protein.

Research on aflatoxins showed that the amount of protein in rat diets correlated to the development of liver cancer. Rats that received aflatoxin and ate a diet of 20% protein developed liver cancer, while those that received aflatoxin and ate a diet of only 5% protein never contracted cancer or its precursor. Protein activated the damage from aflatoxin.

Aflatoxin is one...