224 THE CHINA STUDYWho at Newsweek reviewed the literature to know whether this is
sound nutritional advice or not? And if you have the Atkins Diet plus
some "carbs," how different is this diet from the standard American
diet, the toxic diet that has been shown to make us fat, give us heart
disease, destroy our kidneys, make us blind and lead us to Alzheimer's,
cancer and a host of other medical problems?
These are merely examples of the current state of nutrition aware-
ness in the United States. Every day I am reminded that Americans are
drowning in a flood of horrible nutrition information. I remember the
adage told several decades ago: Americans love hogwash. Another one:
Americans love to hear good things about their bad habits. It would ap-
pear from a quick glance that these two sayings are true. Or are they?
I have more faith in the average American. It's not true that Ameri-
cans love hogwash-it's that hogwash inundates Americans, whether
they want it or not! I know that some Americans want the truth, and
just haven't been able to find it because it is drowned out by the hog-
wash. Very little of the nutrition information that makes it to the public
consciousness is soundly based in science, and we pay a grave price.
One day olive oil is terrible, the next it is heart healthy. One day eggs
will clog your arteries, the next they are a good source of protein. One
day potatoes and rice are great, the next they are the gravest threats to
your weight you will ever face.
At the beginning of the book I said my goal was to redefine how we
think of nutrition information-eliminate confusion, make health sim-
ple and base my claims on the evidence generated by peer-reviewed nu-
trition research published in peer-reviewed, professional publications.
So far, you have seen a broad sample-and it's only a sample-of that
evidence. You have seen that there is overwhelming scientific support
for one, simple optimal diet-a whole foods, plant-based diet.
I want to condense the nutritional lessons learned from this broad
range of evidence and from my experiences over the past forty-plus
years into a simple guide to good nutrition. I have whittled my knowl-
edge down to several core principles, principles that will illuminate how
nutrition and health truly operate. Furthermore, I have translated the
science into dietary recommendations that you can begin to incorporate
into your own life. Not only will you gain a new understanding of nutri-
tion and health, but you will also see exactly which foods you should
eat and which foods you should avoid. What you decide to do with this
information is up to you, but you can at least know that you, as a reader
and a person, have finally been told something other than hogwash.