The Metabolic Classroom with Dr. Ben Bikman

The China Study Revisited - Science vs. Storytelling

Jun 2, 2025

Dive into a critical analysis of the claims made in a popular study promoting a plant-based diet. Hear about the misleading conclusions linking animal protein to diseases, and how higher meat consumption can actually coincide with lower cancer rates. Discover how dairy fats might protect against cancer while isolated protein studies distort health realities. Explore the mTOR pathway and learn why insulin is a better metabolic marker than previously thought. Get ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about diet and health!

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

China Study's Correlation Flaws

The China Study claims animal protein drives cancer based on correlational data, but deeper analysis reveals inconsistencies.
Some regions with high meat consumption had lower cancer mortality, challenging the way protein is blamed.

ANECDOTE

Tuoli County's Dietary Paradox

Tuoli County’s population ate more animal protein than twice the American average but had low cancer and heart disease rates.
This real-world example questions the claim that meat causes these diseases.

INSIGHT

Refined Carbs Over Protein Risk

Wheat flour and refined carbohydrate intake showed stronger correlations with heart disease than animal protein in the China Study.
Correlation does not imply causation, and confounding variables complicate conclusions.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

📢 Dr. Bikman’s Coaching Site, Insulin IQ: https://insuliniq.com

and/or

📢 Become an Insider, Ben’s website: https://www.benbikman.com

In this episode of The Metabolic Classroom, Dr. Bikman critically examines the claims made in The China Study, a popular book advocating for a plant-based diet based on correlational data from the China-Cornell-Oxford Project. While the book suggests that animal protein causes cancer and chronic disease, Ben emphasizes that correlation is not causation and points out that many of the study’s conclusions are misleading or unsupported by the raw data.

For example, some regions with higher meat consumption actually had lower cancer mortality, and wheat flour consumption showed a stronger correlation with heart disease than meat intake.

He also scrutinizes the rat experiments used to bolster the study’s conclusions. These studies involved pairing a powerful carcinogen with isolated casein (a dairy protein), resulting in cancer growth. However, Ben highlights that whole dairy, including fats like CLA and butyrate, may actually protect against cancer. He explains how isolating one protein and ignoring other nutrients misrepresents the effects of real, whole food consumption.

Ben then shifts to mechanisms and dissects the mTOR pathway, often cited in arguments against animal protein. He presents data showing that insulin—not leucine—is a much more potent and sustained activator of mTOR. This undermines the idea that animal protein is uniquely harmful and suggests that refined carbohydrates, which spike insulin, are more concerning in cancer development.

In conclusion, Dr. Bikman encourages viewers not to fear animal protein, especially when consumed with its natural fats in whole foods. He urges people to scrutinize bold dietary claims and recognize that refined carbs, not protein, are more consistently implicated in disease. While The China Study may have popularized plant-based eating, its scientific foundation is far less solid than many assume.

Show Notes/References:

For complete show notes and references, we invite you to become an Insider subscriber. You’ll enjoy real-time, livestream Metabolic Classroom access which includes live Q&A with Ben after the lecture, ad-free podcast episodes, show notes and references, online Office Hours access, Ben’s Research Review Podcast, and a searchable archive that includes all Metabolic Classroom episodes and Research Reviews. Learn more: https://www.benbikman.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.