The China Study by Thomas Campbell

278 THE CHINA STUDY

This is a very important discrepancy, and is illustrated by the correla-
tion between the consumption of dietary animal protein and dietary fat
for a group of countries (Chart 14.6) .8,9, 1 8,20-22 The most reliable com-
parison was published in 19752 °; it showed a highly convincing correla-
tion of more than 90%. This means that as fat intake goes up in various
countries, animal protein intake increases in an almost perfectly parallel
manner. Likewise, in the China Study, the intakes of fat and animal pro-
tein also show a similar correlation of 84%.8, 21
In the Nurses' Health Study, this is not the case. The correlation
between animal protein and total fat intakes is only about 16%.9 In
the Women's Health Trial, also including American women, it is even
worse, at _17%18,21,22; as fat goes down, animal protein goes up. This
practice is typical of American women who have been led to believe
that, by decreasing their fat intake, they are changing to a healthier diet.
A nurse consuming a "low-fat" diet in the Harvard study, like American
women everywhere, is likely to continue eating large amounts of animal
protein, as shown in meal #1 (Chart 14.4).
Sadly, this evidence on the effects of animal-based food on cancer and
other diseases of affluence has been ignored, even maligned, as we con-
tinue to focus on fat and other nutrients in isolation. Because of this, the
Nurses' Health Study and virtually every other human epidemiological
study published to date have been seriously shortchanged in their in-

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CHART 14.6: PERCENT CORRELATIONS OF TOTAL FAT

AND ANIMAL PROTEIN CONSUMPTION

China

" Nurses' Health Study

-^1 •
International I
Women's Health Study