The China Study by Thomas Campbell

,.

r

SCIENTIFIC REDUCTIONISM 283

Most recently, the Nurses' Health Study is cited as having come up

with an even more powerful endorsement for eggs. A recent news item

stated:

Eating eggs during adolescence could protect women against

breast cancer.. .. 39

The article goes on to quote a Harvard researcher as saying:

Women who had, during adolescence, a higher consumption of

eggs ... had a lower risk of breast cancer .... 39

Most people who read this news article will likely say that eggs are

back in favor-even when they don't know how many eggs per day are

okay or whether there are exceptions to this generalization. Eggs will

only seem to be more healthful when the henhouse industry adds their

words of wisdom. But wait a minute-evidence says egg consumption

for teenage girls is okay, maybe even good, but evidence also says more

egg consumption overall increases breast cancer risk. By the way, here's

something else to think about. Multiple studies have rather conSistently

shown that egg consumption can increase colon cancer risk, more so for

women than for men.w

What are we to believe? One minute alcohol intake can reduce our

disease risks, the next minute it can increase them. One minute fish

consumption can help to reduce our disease risks, the next minute it

can hurt. One minute eggs are bad, the next minute they can be healthy.

It seems to me that what is missing here is the larger context. What you

have without that context is just a lot of confusion.

UNRAVELING DIET AND CANCER

In addition to stating that diet and exercise are unrelated to breast can-

cer, the Harvard researchers have been chipping away at other popular

notions regarding diet and cancer. For example, the Harvard studies

have not been able to detect any association between colorectal cancer

and fiber or fruit and vegetable intake.^4 • 4 1, 42

Dietary fiber, of course, only comes from plant-based foods, thus

these findings put a dent in the idea that fiber or fruits, vegetables and

cereals prevent large bowel cancer. Keep in mind that the Harvard stud-

ies are dealing with uniformly carnivorous populations, almost none

of which are using a whole foods, plant-based diet that is naturally low

in fat and high in fiber. It is likely that the potential protective effect of