THE POWER OF PLANTS

Over 3 years ago in February 2011, my husband handed me his CORNELL ALUMNI MAGAZINE suggesting that I read an interview with T. Colin Campbell author of THE CHINA STUDY.  Who is Campbell?  What’s THE CHINA STUDY?  What is Plant-Based Eating?  I had no idea.  Little did I realize by the time I had finished reading the interview, this meat-loving Grandma would be a PLANT-BASED EATER for life!

I include an excerpt from that life-changing interview here so you can have a sense of its persuasive power.  Perhaps you will be persuaded as well.

CAM (Cornell Alumni Magazine):  What were the findings [of THE CHINA STUDY], in a nutshell?

TCC (T COLIN CAMPBELL):  In general, as we increase our animal-based food consumption, we get into trouble.  It increases heart disease, cancer, and all kinds of other ailments and problems.

CAM:  One of your most famous fans is former President Bill Clinton.  How did he come to follow your dietary guidelines?

TCC:  When his daughter Chelsea’s wedding was coming up, she wanted him to lose some weight; also, he was about to get another stent and didn’t want to.  He ended up losing 24 pounds before the wedding, and I got a phone call from one of his close associates who told me, “He was there with your book, and he was telling everybody about it.”

CAM:  He took the book to the wedding?

TCC:  That’s what I was told—that he was raving about it at one of the dinners.  And what he said later in an interview with Wolf Blitzer [CNN] was absolutely spectacular, because it was very clear.  He said, “I’m off all meat, all dairy.  I eat a little fish, but I follow a plant-based diet.”

CAM:  Why do you prefer the term “plant-based” to “vegetarian” or “vegan”?

TCC:  Because I don’t like the way “vegetarian” and “vegan” are interpreted.  I didn’t do this research to prove that vegetarianism or veganism are good ideas.  I wanted the argument to rest on science, not ideology.

CAM:  But don’t vegetarians and vegans also follow plant-based diets?

TCC:  90% of vegetarians still consume dairy and eggs, so the nutritional composition of their diet is not that different [from meat eaters]; vegetarians have traded off meat for milk, more or less.  Vegans don’t eat any animal foods, so you’d think they’ve got it all together.  But many of them do it for ideological reasons, and they don’t know much more about the health aspects than anybody else.  Their diets can be pretty high in processed foods, sugar, and fat.

CAM:  So just being plant-based is not enough?

TCC:  It’s whole, plant-based foods—whole grains, the leaves and fruits and nuts and so forth.  My interpretation of the evidence is not to use white flour or sugar products, not to add fat, and not to use fried foods.  If we eat this way the health effects are amazing.  There’s nothing in medicine that comes close to it.

Books by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. – THE CHINA STUDY, WHOLE, THE LOW CARB FRAUD