Whole

Rethinking the Science of Nutrition

By: T. Colin Campbell PhD/PhD, Howard Jacobson

Narrated by: Don Hagen

Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

What happens when you eat an apple? The answer is vastly more complex than you imagine.

Whole, a New York Times bestseller and an eye-opening, paradigm-changing journey through cutting-edge thinking on nutrition, is a scientific tour de force with powerful implications for our health and for our world.

Every apple contains thousands of antioxidants whose names, beyond a few like vitamin C, are unfamiliar to us, and each of these powerful chemicals has the potential to play an important role in supporting our health. They impact thousands upon thousands of metabolic reactions inside the human body. But calculating the specific influence of each of these chemicals isn’t nearly sufficient to explain the effect of the apple as a whole. Because almost every chemical can affect every other chemical, there is an almost infinite number of possible biological consequences—and that’s just from an apple.

Nutritional science, long stuck in a reductionist mindset, is at the cusp of a revolution. The traditional gold standard of nutrition research has been to study one chemical at a time in an attempt to determine its particular impact on the human body. These sorts of studies are helpful to food companies trying to prove there is a chemical in milk or prepackaged dinners that is “good” for us, but they provide little insight into the complexity of what actually happens in our bodies or how those chemicals contribute to our health.

In The China Study, T. Colin Campbell revolutionized the way we think about our food with the evidence that a whole food, plant-based diet is the healthiest way to eat. Now, in Whole, he explains the science behind that evidence, the ways our current scientific paradigm ignores the fascinating complexity of the human body, and why, if we have such overwhelming evidence that everything we think we know about nutrition is wrong, our eating habits haven’t changed.

©2013 T. Colin Campbell (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

" Whole makes a convincing case that modern nutrition’s focus on single nutrients has led to mass confusion with tragic health consequences. Dr. Campbell’s new paradigm will change the way we think about food and, in doing so, could improve the lives of millions of people and save billions of dollars in health care costs." (Brian Wendel, creator and executive producer of Forks over Knives)

"There are very few material game-changers in life, but this book is truly one of them. The information herein - backed up by extraordinary peer-reviewed science - has the power to halt and reverse disease, give you energy you’ve never known, and put you on a path of transformation in just about every positive way. Read it and get ready to soar." (Kathy Freston, New York Times best-selling author of The Lean)

"In this provocative book, T. Colin Campbell, based on his long career in experimental research and health-policy making, uncovers how and why there is so much confusion about food and health and what can be done about it. The China Study revealed what we should eat; Whole answers why. Read and enjoy; there’s something here to inspire and offend just about everyone." (Dean Ornish, MD, founder and president, Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Sausalito)

Very Informative and enlightening!

I think that everyone needs to listen to or read this book, along with the Chiba Study.
After reading the China Study I was convinced that A WFPB diet was for me. I was already a vegetarian for 20 years, but cheese was the most difficult food for me to give up. Then my older sister was diagnosed with breast cancer & that was enough for me. I immediately gave up dairy and never looked back. Then I took Dr Campbell’s course through eCornell in 2012 and became certified in the WFPB diet. Thankfully, my younger sister also decided to shift from vegetarian to WFPB, although we have not been able to convince my older sister to go completely WFPB. I am still working on that….
This book is a must read for everyone. I think that I enjoyed it even more due to Dr. Campbell’s narration, which lends a tone of heartfelt enthusiasm and sincerity to the content. Thank you Dr. Campbell for changing my life for the better, along with everyone else who chooses to shift to a WFPB diet!

Criticism isn’t he comments is bogus

I read reviews before I listened to this book expecting Dr. Campbell to rail against a certain person as some have said in the comments. What I found was a very compelling argument about reductionist science that shapes the guidance we’re given in the U.S. on what is considered a healthy diet. Give it a listen, take the red pill, wake up.

Great anecdotes on the system, but

could have used more detail in historical contradictions like humans growth with hunting. Evolutionary contradictions like humans canine teeth. Nutritional constraints such as the increase demand of plants leading to decline in plant nutrition. Or social/economic issues associated with increased demands for produce.

Highest quality education you'll find on WFPB

Very educational, especially about the systems in place working against adoption of WFPB by business, pharma, medicine, universities, etc. Important reading for all, even if you're not WFPB to help understand how systems control and manipulate discussion and thinking about food, health and the Earth.

Very overdrawn

It’s an interesting presentation of scientific facts supporting the whole food, plant based diet. I believe in the power of the human body to process natural things and protect and strengthen. However, two things were unneeded: overdrawn examples and attacks to the scientific community. It took WAY too long to present simple points. Elaboration only dragged, and did not help. Attacks on the scientific community, despite the caveats and counter-point-respect; was unnecessary and didn’t further the biological proof. It frankly came off as complaining and resenting. I wouldn’t recommend this book, and I’d refer people to WFPB websites or blogs instead. He is a credible author and scientist: just not an author, and sadly, comes off as a salty scientist.

Fascinating & Compelling

Extremely comprehensive and much gratitude to the authors for this potentially life changing and life enhancing time.

Must Read

Another must read from Dr. Campbell. It saddens me that his life saving research hasn't been embraced by the medical community, government or the media. Because of his previous book, The China Study, I am a healthy, fit and no longer live in fear of dying of the diseases of my parents. I encourage everyone to listen both of Dr. Campbell's books. Your life will never be the same.

Listen to this book!

Great narration, easy listening. Science-backed information. Not only do I recommend this book, I believe in the whole food, plant based diet more than ever!

Very Informative

This book is very informative about our health and how diet (what we eat) affects it. This book is not entertaining, instead it is filled with facts about food and its affects on our overall health. The author talks about how we can stay well and even reverse illnesses we already have by eating the proper diet. This book has confirmed a lot of my beliefs and opened my eyes to things I never considered. I'm in the process of changing my diet to get on board with his recommendations. Very grateful I ran across this book. I'm also in the process of reading "The China Study" that was written by the same author.

The "WHOLE" Truth

This is essential reading for anyone who eats!
T. Colin Campbell explains why the Healthcare System in America is really a Sickness Industry. He pulls no punches in explaining why Americans spend more money on Healthcare, yet have one of the poorest records in health among the nations of the world. Dr. Campbell is uniquely qualified to demonstrate the ties between big Pharma, the medical community, and the big Food Industries of beef, pork, poultry and dairy.
A nutritional whirlwind of awareness has been spinning around the work of Dr. Campbell ever since his first book, The China Study. He has changed many lives for the better and if we could get everyone to read his work, then we could more rapidly improve our village called Earth.
I highly recommend and enthusiastically encourage you to read the "WHOLE" thing.