Hi,

Just want to write a few words about THE CHINA STUDY. It's a great book with lots of important info which I read last month.
I'm not a scientist,neither a researcher but I have been a lot of times in China,(rural China), up in the country, visited many different parts of China, longer stays, because my wife was born there and lots of her relatives are still living there, in small villages; most of them are farmers.
During all my stays there, I have never met a Chinese who lives on a vegan diet. They all eat white rice, which is a processed food. Brown rice is even difficult to get. What I do know is that most people of rural China eat a diet, based on white rice, vegetables and fruits. They also eat meat, but not too much, simply because they cannot afford it.They fry their foods in peanut oil. All Chinese use oil. They also eat eggs, oh yes. What I never saw there is a milk drinking Chinese or a cheese eating Chinese. To my opinion, beside a small consumption of meat (mostly chicken), the big difference with the Western diet is the use of dairy products, like milk, butter, cheese, in the Western diet

It's very sad that almost every "authority" who is into raw food, alkaline balance, healthy food, or just HEALTH in general, has his or her own shop with plenty of supplements, water ionizers and many things more.It's easy to understand why people have no idea anymore about what is good for their health and what not. It's said already: there are so many supplements, all good for you, that there's hardly any space left for real food.
I think you better spend your money on wholefoods.Reading all supplement stuff makes me think it's not possible anymore to live a healthy life without taking supplements.

Interesting observations johnboy. My boss spent many years in China and I asked him about white rice consumption. His story (and I have no idea whether it's true or not) is that before the Cultural Revolution only royalty ate white rice. After the revolution, everyone was declared 'royalty' and hence white rice became widely available.

In addition to the absence of dairy foods, I imagine there is also a lack of sweets?

Oh really?! For 1000s of years, what did they eat in the Garden of Eden? Duh.