Veganism Cures It All
Published 5.6.2025: So with this presentation from the vegan seminar, "The Truth About Weight Loss," by Thomas Campbell (son of T Colin Campbell of the China Study) all I have are copies of his slides. It's been awhile since I've listened to the talk, so most of this is my (renewed) impressions from his slides.
Much of his presentation is related to metabolic disease or cancer and how a whole foods vegan diet (or plant based) works wonders. He compares the vegan diet to a DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). And the vegan diet does better… but not significantly better. Seriously, he put error bars on the columns (as he should) and they overlapped.
Yes, the average response to the vegan diet was better, but the overall results were not significant. And frankly suggests the question, is a totally vegan diet necessary for health? The evidence as presented by Campbell himself is NO. In this he is hit by the same fact that his father ignored… there are NO vegan communities in rural China. People eating less meat were healthier than people eating more, but there were no vegans. Campbell the elder extrapolated the results to zero meat intake and declared that to be best.
Now, obviously, there are people who thrive and improve their health as they eat more fruits and vegetables and reduce (or eliminate) animal products from their diet. But not everyone does. That fact may be inconvenient to vegans, but it remains.
His results on cancer compare a vegan diet to a the Standard American Diet (SAD), so naturally the vegan diet (which will be healthier than the SAD, especially if supplemented correctly). Not surprisingly, cancer patients (these were breast cancer patients) did better eating more fruits and vegetables. Most liked the diet and claimed that all cancer patients should be given this diet. I have no complaint about this, eating more vegetables and fruit would be an important part of any cancer treatment I may endure in the future.
The higher fiber content (because I think that's a huge part of this) caused cholesterol to plummet and weight loss to occur. But again, the DASH diet will do that too. It also raises the fiber content of the diet, but doesn't enforce veganism. This was an interesting talk for that reason alone. Yes, dietary changes are necessary. Raise your fiber intake and avoid ultra-processed foods, but adopting an animal free diet does NOT seem to be necessary. Lower animal intake is not zero.
I'm quite certain this was not the take-away that Dr. Campbell was hoping for, but it is mine.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!!
Much of his presentation is related to metabolic disease or cancer and how a whole foods vegan diet (or plant based) works wonders. He compares the vegan diet to a DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). And the vegan diet does better… but not significantly better. Seriously, he put error bars on the columns (as he should) and they overlapped.
Yes, the average response to the vegan diet was better, but the overall results were not significant. And frankly suggests the question, is a totally vegan diet necessary for health? The evidence as presented by Campbell himself is NO. In this he is hit by the same fact that his father ignored… there are NO vegan communities in rural China. People eating less meat were healthier than people eating more, but there were no vegans. Campbell the elder extrapolated the results to zero meat intake and declared that to be best.
Now, obviously, there are people who thrive and improve their health as they eat more fruits and vegetables and reduce (or eliminate) animal products from their diet. But not everyone does. That fact may be inconvenient to vegans, but it remains.
His results on cancer compare a vegan diet to a the Standard American Diet (SAD), so naturally the vegan diet (which will be healthier than the SAD, especially if supplemented correctly). Not surprisingly, cancer patients (these were breast cancer patients) did better eating more fruits and vegetables. Most liked the diet and claimed that all cancer patients should be given this diet. I have no complaint about this, eating more vegetables and fruit would be an important part of any cancer treatment I may endure in the future.
The higher fiber content (because I think that's a huge part of this) caused cholesterol to plummet and weight loss to occur. But again, the DASH diet will do that too. It also raises the fiber content of the diet, but doesn't enforce veganism. This was an interesting talk for that reason alone. Yes, dietary changes are necessary. Raise your fiber intake and avoid ultra-processed foods, but adopting an animal free diet does NOT seem to be necessary. Lower animal intake is not zero.
I'm quite certain this was not the take-away that Dr. Campbell was hoping for, but it is mine.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT any type of medical professional. Do NOT take medical advice from me!!