236 THE CHINA STUDYimplication is that if we could effectively remove this chemical from
potato chips, they would be safe to eat, even though they continue to
be highly unhealthy, processed slices of potatoes drenched with fat and
salt.
50 many of us seem to want a scapegoat. We do not want to hear
that our favorite foods are a problem simply because of their nutritional
content.
In chapter three, we saw that the potential effects of aflatoxin, a
chemical touted as being highly carcinogenic, could be entirely con-
trolled by nutrition. Even with large doses of aflatoxin, rats could be
healthy, active and cancer-free if they were fed low-protein diets. We
also saw how small findings can make big news every time cancer is
mentioned. For example, if experimental animals have an increased
incidence of cancer after gargantuan exposures, the chemical agent is
trumpeted as a cause of cancer, as was the case for N5AR (see chapter
three) and nitrites. However, like genes, the activities of these chemical
carcinogens are primarily controlled by the nutrients that we eat.
50 what do these examples tell us? In practical terms, you aren't do-
ing yourself much good by eating organic beef instead of conventional
beef that's been pumped full of chemicals. The organic beef might be
marginally healthier, but I would never say that it was a safe choice.
Both types of beef have a similar nutrient profile.
It is useful to think of this principle in another way: a chronic disease
like cancer takes years to develop. Those chemicals that initiate cancer
are often the ones that make headlines. What does not make headlines,
however, is the fact that the disease process continues long after initia-
tion, and can be accelerated or repressed during its promotion stage by
nutrition. In other words, nutrition primarily determines whether the
disease will ever do its damage.PRINCIPLE #6The same nutrition that prevents disease in its early stages
(before diagnosis) can also halt or reverse disease
in its later stages (after diagnosis).It is worth repeating that chronic diseases take several years to develop.
For example, there is a general thought that breast cancer can be initi-