Dear Dad,
The rules of courtroom evidence don’t care what you know, what you read, what social media claims, or what uncle Joe proclaimed around the holiday table.
The predominate form of evidence in court comes by spoken testimony, a witness, sworn in to tell the truth, before God, the jury, and the judge, to be evaluated for credibility. In the pursuit of truth it better be reflected in the record or counts for nothing.
I’ve spent a lot of time acquiring health and nutrition information which is great, but as lawyer, trained to evaluate “evidence” what good is knowledge without being able to look into the eyes of the supplier and ask some questions. In 2023, I had the opportunity to sit across the table from two “witnesses” who espouse to know helpful information about health, lifestyle, and nutrition, here are those two stories.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell is the “grandfather” of the modern day plant based diet. His research formed the basis for the nutrition documentary “Forks Over Knives.” He did his undergrad in our home town at Penn State and then a PhD at Cornell. His most recognized research was The China Study, considered the “grand prix of epidemiology.” Dr. Campbell coined the phrase, “whole food plant based,” and his research specifically linked a whole food plant based diet (limited processing & no animal products) to preventing and reversing cancer— a concept previously unheard of in nutrition and medicine.
Waiting atop the stairs in front of the restaurant I saw Dr. Campbell walking toward me with his wife Karen. Dr. Campbell walked with a cane. I approached them with a smile and stuck out my hand.
“Nice to meet you Sam,” Dr. Campbell said, then quickly added. “I only use this thing,” raising his cane, “due to a racquetball injury 3 years ago.”
Quick math told me his racquetball injury happened at 86 years old. When we met in March 2023, Dr. Campbell was 89 years old and celebrated his 90th birthday later in the year. Dr. Campbell drove him and Karen to the restaurant, was quick witted, and energetic. He and Karen told me they just returned from a 2-week vacation/work trip in the Dominican Republic. We ate and talked for almost 3 hours. He told me about the rest of his family, his background on the dairy farm, his research, and the future projects he was working on.
I enjoyed Dr. Campbell’s perspective because he’s very data driven. Spending his formative years on a dairy farm his views originated pro meat, dairy, and agriculture, but evidence he collected caused him to change course. The results found in the China Study, demonstrated a link between animal protein consumption and cancer rates specifically, and food to chronic disease generally.
“Food as a key to health represents a powerful challenge to conventional medicine, which is fundamentally built on drugs and surgery…the China Study was an important milestone in my thinking. Standing alone, it does not prove that diet causes disease. Absolute proof in science is nearly unattainable. Instead, a theory is proposed and debated until the weight of the evidence is so overwhelming that everyone commonly accepts that the theory is most likely true. In the case of diet and disease, the China Study adds a lot of weight to the evidence.”1
Changes in Dr. Campbell’s dietary habits tracked his research. He told me that his diet transitioned over about a 15 year period to being completely plant based, meaning he eats no animal products. His wife Karen’s cooking made the same transition.
I asked Karen if she was hesitant to change the eating patterns of their whole family.
She replied, “I trusted Colin’s research.”
Dan Buettner may just be the most interesting man in the world. He is not a researcher, doctor, or scientist, but a world traveler, journalist, and master of observational study. One of his keenest observations happened as a young intern while attending a prestigious event—so he told me. In a room full of professional athletes, powerful politicians, and rich businessmen there was one man to whom everyone flocked— George Plimpton. Plimpton was an esteemed journalist and he had the most fascinating stories.
Since that evening Dan sought to find the most interesting stories. He holds trans-continental cycling records, has traveled to well over 100 countries, and is a fellow for National Geographic. Back in the early 2000’s while looking for his next story, Dan stumbled upon some interesting data. He and a team discovered that there were various pockets of populations around the globe where people tended to live the longest, determined by the most “centenarians” (100+ year old’s) per capita. The fact that there were distinct pockets of long lived people made Dan believe there were distinct lifestyle principles that could be gleaned from the people living there. So Dan packed his bags and went. Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica; Loma Linda California, and Icaria Greece.
The Blue Zones was the term given to these health infused regions. If you haven’t heard of the book “Blue Zones: Lessons From Living Longer From People Who’ve Lived The Longest,” you may be familiar with the Netflix documentary released this year, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, released this year on Netflix. Dan has spent the better part of the 21st Century describing, advocating, and implementing strategies he learned from spending time in the Blue Zones to help us think about lifestyle changes to improve our own healthspan.
On a warm day during Memorial Day weekend 2023, I met Dan for coffee in South Beach. He was taller than I imagined, very welcoming with a wide smile. We spoke for an hour, right after he viewed edits of his upcoming Netflix documentary and before his morning pickleball. He shared his story, insights, and advice to me as a health inspired attorney with an entrepreneurial mind.
I’m still somewhat amazed that these two men agreed to meet with me nothing more than an inquisitive proposal. Not even a subpoena! They certainly could have found more important ways to spend their free time, but they certainly provided two of my favorite memories of 2023! Beyond the excitement of these encounters, each conversation provided nuances as I seek to determine a nugget of truth: how eating promotes or inhibits health. A topic we will continue exploring in 2024.
Onward!
With Love,
JSR