Dr. T. Colin Campbell, nutritional biochemist and Professor Emeritus of Cornell University, in partnership with researchers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, conducted what is widely described as one of the most foundational and comprehensive nutritional studies ever undertaken. The truly plant-based nature of the traditional Chinese participants in the study contrasted sharply with the westernized, animal-based diets of urbanized Chinese participants. This foundational human epidemiological research was supplemented by laboratory animal studies to further evaluate and solidify the conclusions of the core China Project.

The Vegan Digest (TVD) recognizes Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PhD, as a TVD People Achiever for his lifetime’s work. Over a career spanning decades of peer-reviewed research and many published papers, Dr. Campbell co-authored the bestselling, non-fiction literary work, The China Study. Co-authored by his son, Thomas M. Campbell II, MD, this book translates the conclusions of their professional scientific studies, anchored by the main underlying human data. Their overwhelming recommendation is a whole-foods, plant-based (WFPB) diet that avoids nearly all nutritional supplements, incorporates healthy levels of physical exercise, and eliminates animal-derived foods and proteins.

The book is anchored by a massive China-based research project that utilized China’s nationwide mortality surveys from the early to mid-1970s to map geographic disease trends, executing field surveys during the 1980s with follow-on validations for statistical reliability published into the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. The total area subject to the study was geographically subdivided by provinces, counties, and households.

One individual per household was chosen as a study participant, with nearly equal quantities of males and females selected in each xiang (a sub-county administrative unit). An allotment of either 50 or 60 households was selected per xiang during the first and second phases of the study, respectively. As the monograph notes, the “purpose of the study is to describe the wide range of differences among different counties in lifestyles and disease-specific mortality rates, rather than to analyse these differences in search of direct evidence of causes.”

Statistical variability among study participants was considered highly suitable for its purpose, rendering the sample sizes across dozens of provinces, thousands of households, and thousands of individuals adequately representative. This wide variability allowed for rigorous comparison among subsets of the total population subject to observation, dietary questionnaires, bodily samples, and other scientific measurements. The published study explicitly notes that its “geographic study describes the variation across” Chinese counties and that “comparisons are among counties, not among individuals.”

Published data from the project details thousands of laboratory variables, including plasma measurements of specific proteins, vitamins, cholesterol, lipids, and trace elements, alongside comprehensive blood and urine samples. Further, the study documents dietary intake survey variables covering macronutrients, micronutrients, staple foods, amino acids, and fatty acids.

The Vegan Digest highly considers the immense depth of the questionnaire listings used to conduct the study. The project published full listings of the six core questionnaires, which included interviews with Chinese officials at various jurisdictional levels. Inquiries covered general population statistics, vaccination programs, transportation, communication, and health services, alongside regional agricultural, fishing, and migration data.

Household questionnaires captured intimate data points including names, ages, occupations, sources of income, spending habits, cooking methods, and eating behaviors. Dietary records detailed exactly what types of meats, seafood, fruits, or vegetables household individuals consumed, where those foods were purchased, and how their drinking water was sourced.

Many other attributes obtained via the study’s detailed collection included recreational habits, such as whether an individual consumes tobacco or alcohol, what specific varieties they use, and how they consume them. Collectively, these questionnaires yielded thousands of data points per household and hundreds of demographic and economic variables per jurisdiction.

Ultimately, The China Study and the underlying research conducted by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, PhD, and his associates assert that modern levels of chronic disease can be profoundly mitigated by a whole-foods, plant-based diet. The book notes that while animal-derived proteins may be more readily absorbed by humans due to biological similarities between species, the cultural perception that animal proteins are of “higher quality” is incorrect. The text demonstrates that metabolic efficiency does not equal dietary quality; rather, the right kinds and amounts of plant proteins that allow for steady, stable synthesis indicate a truly high-quality protein intake.