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The China Study Finding Number Seven

You can virtually eliminate your risk of heart disease, the most pervasive killer in America, by enjoying a Nutrient Rich diet and an active lifestyle. In some populations in China, heart disease is practically nonexistent.

Heart disease was practically non-existent in certain parts of rural China at the time of the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project. This is reflected in the unusually low blood cholesterol levels in rural China, which were linked in a highly significant way with dietary patterns. As discussed in research point #4, intake of even small amounts of animal-based foods was linked to higher blood cholesterol levels, and intake of plant-based foods was linked to lower blood cholesterol levels. In rural China, blood cholesterol levels in the 65 counties ranged from 90 mg/dL to 170 mg/dL. In America, blood cholesterol levels ranged from 170-290 mg/dL. The difference is illustrated in the graphic below.

Range of Blood Cholesterol Levels in Rural China and the United States

With such an enormous difference in blood cholesterol levels, it is easy to see why heart disease, the most pervasive killer in America, is so rare in rural China. In fact, at the time of the survey, the death rate from heart disease was 17 times higher among American men than it was among Chinese men. In one county, a county with almost 250,000 men, there was not one single recorded heart disease fatality among men under the age of 64 over a three-year observation period. Another county, a county with almost 200,000 women, also did not record a single heart disease fatality among women under the age of 64 over a three-year observation period.

As if this weren?t enough information to tell us that something is drastically wrong with the standard American diet and lifestyle, supporting research makes the case incontrovertible. Dr. Dean Ornish, founder, president and director of the Preventive Medicine Research institute and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., a highly acclaimed surgeon from the Cleveland Clinic, the number one ranked heart disease treatment institution in the country, have conducted intervention studies on Americans with advanced heart disease and actually documented significant disease reversal by using dietary change as a primary treatment. The diet they used was a whole, predominantly whole plant foods diet.

All of this suggests one thing: simply by making better choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you can avoid the most common killer in the United States

Findings from dozens of other studies around the world (elaborated on in the book, The China Study)