The KInd Life Community Forum

Wondering what everyone thinks of some of the many critiques out there of the China Study. This book meant so much to me and I'm not sure what to think after reading this: http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/. I would love to hear all of your responses!

Thanks Justin. I felt the same way regarding her justification.

Another person who highly values the China Study though having his own books/diet that he recommends is Dr. Douglas Graham (80/10/10).

This is a big problem. There is implicit in this sort of information, the concept of consequences. When we learn the etiology of our most common and destructive diseases there may be a tendency to assign blame. I don't think that blame and guilt are helpful but they do show up here and there.

A smoker could be blamed by society when they get sick. They may feel guilty and be demoralized. Some one with heart disease or diabetes doesn't tend to feel the same way. Why? What is it about making yourself ill from smoking that differs from doing it with food? Smoking is an addictive drug that most started before the age of consent. The other degenerative diseases that associate with the modern western lifestyle are just as destructive. Society seems to feel it's OK to blame these patients if they are obese.

Auto immune disease is even more sticky. The majority of incidences arise as a result of our habits. This is evident in the statistical analysis of which populations experience more incidences. Those populations exposed to those more dangerous nutritional practices suffer greatly, others are immune. Not only do some populations have higher rates of incidence but some individuals end up getting more then one disease.

It may or may not be the diet of the sufferer that is causing any specific disease process to endure, but dietary adjustment offers the most potent treatment strategy to overcome these disorders. Leave the guilt and judgement behind, try to move forward with the hope and effort this fight requires. It is not a "clean" diet so much as one that works for you that may lead to remission. Fault for past suffering cannot be assigned without guilt and regret. I don't have an answer for those feelings except to ignore them and stay positive and keep trying.

I would have a patient with an auto immune disease change their diet rather drastically whether it was clean or not, and would use the superhero plan as a great place to start.

another plan is the Elimination Diet From Dr. Barrnard of PCRM

Start with a simple baseline diet, excluding foods that are more common triggers (dairy products, corn, meats, wheat, oats and rye, eggs, citrus fruits, potatoes, tomatoes, nuts, and coffee), and including only those foods not implicated in auto-immune disease, listed below:

Brown rice.

Cooked or dried fruits (cherries, cranberries, pears, prunes).

Cooked green, yellow, and orange vegetables (artichokes, asparagus, broccoli, chard, collards, lettuce, spinach, string beans, squash, sweet potatoes, tapioca, and taro).

Plain or carbonated water.

Condiments (modest amounts of salt, maple syrup, vanilla extract).

After approximately 4 weeks on this diet, if symptoms have improved or disappeared patients may introduce previously eliminated foods one at a time, every 2 days. Patients should keep a food diary and add these foods in generous amounts to observe which cause auto-immune symptoms. Foods listed above as common triggers should be added last. A newly added food associated with auto-immune symptoms should be removed from the diet for 1 to 2 weeks, and reintroduced to see if the same reaction occurs. If no symptoms are experienced, that food can be kept in the diet.