China-Cornell-Oxford Cancer Study (Educational) Poem by Spock the Vegan

In the mid 1970s, Zhou EnLai, the premier of China,
had terminal cancer. He started a compilation of death
rates for cancer (12 types) for more than 2400 Chinese
counties involving over 800 million Chinese citizens.

The result was a color-coded map showing the cancer
rates for each county. The range was huge. Some had more
than 100 times others. This massive variation was in spite
of the fact that 87% of the population was the same ethnic
group. That makes the China cancer data very significant.

Four doctors, two Chinese, one American from Cornell
University, and one from Oxford University in England,
gathered data on 367 variables and compared them
with all the other variables. They surveyed 10,200 adults
and their families, and administered blood and urine tests.

That was a rare opportunity to study health associations
from a mostly plant-based diet. In the US, about 15%
of the calories come from protein, and more than 80%
of that comes from animals. In rural China only about 10%
of calories come from protein, and only 10% of that comes
from animals.

The Chinese blood cholesterol level average was 127 mg/dl,
nearly 100 points lower than the American average (215) .
Some counties had averages as low as 94. For two groups
of about 25 women in inner China the average was 80.

As the cholesterol rates decreased, so did the rates
of cancers. Where liver cancer rates were very high
in rural China, there was a high rate of chronic Infection
from the hepatitis B virus.

At the time of the study, the death rate from heart attacks
was 17 times higher for American men than rural Chinese
men. When intakes of meat, fish, milk, eggs, animal fat,
and animal protein go up, so does blood cholesterol.
When intakes of plant-based foods and nutrients go up,
cholesterol goes down.

Some doctors still don't accept that. Some know it,
but keep it quiet so that they can keep peddling
their expensive drugs, heart pacers and surgeries.