The Value of Being Vegan

Straying from a traditional vegan diet drastically increased the number of heart disease deaths among villagers in southwest rural China, according to T.C. Campbell, Ph.D., of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

A typical Chinese citizen eats 90 percent less animal protein, half the fat and three times the fiber as an American. The average cholesterol level in China is 129 compared with a soaring 203 in the United States. Chinese heart disease death rates are 16.7 times lower for men and 5.6 times lower for women than U.S. rates.

Although Chinese diets are overwhelmingly healthy, minor disparities make a difference. That's what Campbell was looking for. He collected detailed dietary data and blood samples from 50 adults in each of 130 rural Chinese villages. He then extrapolated the data to the general population and compared it with death rates. Although each village's citizens ate low-fat, plant-based diets, slight variations correlated with differing rates of heart disease and cancer.

Eating more green and light-colored vegetables, legumes and plant protein reduced death rates from heart disease, and eating even small amounts of meat, animal protein and salt increased rates. The difference was so significant that researchers concluded a clear linear relation exists between eating animal products and dying of heart disease.

In addition, breast cancer mortality rose with dietary fat intake and blood cholesterol levels. Researchers suggest that high-fat diets, thought to contribute to breast cancer, increase childhood growth rate and lower the age of puberty, which is itself a breast cancer risk factor. Higher blood levels of vitamin C and beta-carotene were also linked to lower cancer rates.

—American Journal of Cardiology 1998 Nov 26;82(10B):18T-21T