In my last post, I introduced Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. to you. Dr. Campbell maintained a twenty-seven-year laboratory research program in experimental animal studies. These studies investigated the link between diet and cancer with funding coming from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the late 1960s. His findings were published in the most prestigious quality scientific journals and brought attention to the core principles of cancer research on the cause of cancer.
Dr. Campbell received a total of seventy-four grant-years and these findings were completed in thirty-five years. He co-authored over 350 scientific articles. He was presented numerous awards for these findings. Awards from the American Institute for Cancer Research in diet, nutrition and cancer, and was awarded as one of the “Top 25 Food Influentials” by Self magazine in 1998. In 2004, he was given the Burton Kallman Scientific Award by the Natural Nutrition Food Association. Dr. Campbell has received several other awards and has been interviewed on at least twenty-five TV programs. Dr. Campbell is 85 years old and his career spanned over forty-five years.
Why do I go into detail on his background? I want you to understand how prestigious this man is and the impact he has had on nutrition and health. This background will also drive home the viciousness of the AMA and our government when to comes to findings on natural cures for disease.
Dr. Campbell’s research in his own laboratory showed in experimental animals that cancer growth can be turned on and off by nutrition, despite strong genetic predisposition. Eating the right diet not only prevented disease, but also generated health and a sense of well-being, both physically and mentally. His research has helped athletes both young and old discover that eating a low-fat, plant-based diet gave them a significant edge in performance.
Dr. Campbell states that his entire professional career in biomedical research centered on protein. Protein research was the cornerstone and the foundation for his research. From the basic research laboratory to the practical programs of feeding malnourished children in the Philippines and into the government board rooms where our national health policy was formulated.
The Dutch chemist Gerhard Mulder discovered this nitrogen-containing chemical in 1839 and since its discovery, it has risen to be the most sacred of nutrients.
Dr. Campbell ask what is the first word that comes to mind when we think about protein? Meat, right? Taken a step further, one might say beef is an important source of protein. So, the thought, meat is protein and protein is meat has been hammered into our brain since the discovery of the protein molecule.
A cultural bias became firmly entrenched in society. If you were rich, you ate meat for protein, but if you were poor, you ate plant based foods, like potatoes and bread. Protein is a vital component of our bodies. There are hundreds of thousands of different kinds of proteins. Proteins must be replaced on a regular basis. Various food proteins are of different quality, depending on how well they provide the needed amino acids used to replace our body’s proteins.
Dr. Campbell points out that the best source of protein to eat and the one most efficiently providing the building blocks for our protein replacement is human flesh. Since we are not having our fellow humans as the main course of the meal, we turn to animal protein. The protein of animals is very similar to our proteins because they mostly have the right amounts of the needed amino acids. These proteins are call “high quality” and also include the proteins of milk, eggs and dairy products.
The “lower quality” proteins are plant proteins because they may be lacking in one or more of the essential amino acids, but as a group, they do contain all of the amino acids.
In the next posting, we will take a look at the “lower quality” proteins found in plant based protein, which allows for slow but steady synthesis of new proteins and we will discover that this is the healthiest type of protein. The quality of a protein is based on how fast an animal will grow while consuming that food. The efficiency of body growth, which is not necessarily good health, encourages protein of “high quality”. This marketing tactic has been used for over 100 years. We have been mislead in thinking that the higher the quality the healthier we will be. We’ve been scammed! In the following postings we will take a look at which proteins provide the best quality of health and how to prevent disease and reverse the ill effects of eating the wrong diet.
Which are the best proteins?
Do you remember in a previous post that I told you by combining beans and rice, you have a complete protein?