Huge Study Of Diet Indicts Fat And Meat
Early findings from a study of 6,500 Chinese people regarding the relationship between diet and the risk of developing diseases are challenging much of the current American diet. The study indicates that plant-based eating plan is more likely to promote health than disease.
Researchers found that obesity is related more to what people eat than how much. “Adjusted for height, the Chinese consume 20% more calories than Americans do, but Americans are 25% fatter. The main dietary differences are fat and starch. The Chinese eat only a third the amount of fat Americans do, while eating twice the starch. The body readily stores fat but expends a larger proportion of the carbohydrates consumed as heat. Some of the differences may be attributable to exercise.” Among other significant findings, consumption of greater quantities of animal protein is linked to chronic disease; Americans consume one third more protein than the Chinese and 70% of American protein comes from animals compared to 7% of Chinese protein. Researchers have found that cholesterol is a good predictor of diseases; higher cholesterol is related to cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.
In addition, consumption of meat is not needed to prevent iron-deficiency anemia. The average Chinese adult, who shows no evidence of anemia, consumes twice the iron Americans do, but the vast majority of it comes from the iron consumed in plant foods.