News & Events

Renowned Nutritionist, Researcher and Health Advocate T. Colin Campbell to Make Rare Asheville Visit

January 28, 2011

UPDATE: T. Colin Campbell was scheduled to speak at UNC Asheville Friday evening, but due to the death of a close associate and friend, he will have to reschedule his campus visit. However, he has given permission for an advance screening of the documentary film "Forks Over Knives," about the work of Campbell and of Cleveland Clinic surgeon, Dr. Caldwell Esslestyn, at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11 in Lipinsky Auditorium.

The previously announced Thursday evening showing of the film at the Fine Arts Theater in downtown Asheville is sold out, so the Friday evening showing at  UNC Asheville's Lipinisky Auditorium will be the remaining chance to see the film before its national release in May. Admission will be $5, at the door. Area health and nutrition experts will host a question and answer session after the film.

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T. Colin Campbell, nutrition expert, researcher, and author of the award-winning bestseller, "The China Study," will discuss his groundbreaking research during a visit to Asheville in February. Campbell has examined correlations between diet, lifestyle and health outcomes over many years among large numbers of people, and has become a leading advocate for the health benefits of an entirely plant-based diet. Former President Clinton recently cited "The China Study" in explaining how he lost 24 pounds by switching to a plant-based diet in hopes of improving his heart health.

The work of Campbell and of Cleveland Clinic surgeon, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, is featured in the documentary film "Forks Over Knives," which will be shown in an advance screening at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, at the Fine Arts Theater, 36 Biltmore Ave, downtown Asheville. Campbell will also give a talk about his research and findings, beginning with a reception at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in UNC Asheville's Lipinsky Auditorium. The talk will be followed by a book-signing. Many local organizations will be represented at what promises to be a major event for healthy eaters locally and for people who are curious about using dietary choices to protect against chronic disease.

Campbell's book, "The China Study," is based on his role in and conclusions from the 20-year research partnership between the Chinese Academy of Preventative Medicine, Oxford University, and Cornell University which studied dietary, lifestyle and disease mortality characteristics in 65 rural Chinese counties. Rural China was chosen because it has been home to millions of people who share a similar genetic make-up and have relatively few changes in diet over time. The study, described by the New York Times as the "Grand Prix of epidemiology," compared the health consequences of diets rich in animal-based foods with those of diets rich in plant-based foods. Campbell uses the findings to make the case that a plant-based diet lowers the risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

Campbell, who received his master's degree and Ph.D. from Cornell University, is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell. He has also served as a research associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and spent 10 years on the faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's department of biochemistry.

In an interview published in the New York Times on January 7, Campbell described how his views have changed over decades of work: "In the beginning of my career I was teaching nutrition in a very classical sense. Nutrient by nutrient. That’s the way we did research, that’s the way I taught it. I came to believe, after doing the work we did in the Philippines and China, that there was a very different world of understanding nutrition. I ended up with a view now that is almost diametrically opposed to what I had when I started my career."

Campbell's Asheville appearances are sponsored by UNC Asheville’s Health and Wellness Department, the Wilma Sherrill North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness, the Food for Thought Cluster, Asheville Vegetarians, Mount Pisgah Academy Seventh-day Adventist Church Health Ministry, Whole Foods Market-GreenLife Grocery, Asheville Macrobiotic Alliance, and Robert J. Deutsch, P.A.

Tickets for "Forks Over Knives" may be purchased in advance at the Fine Arts Theater during box office hours, $10 for general admission, $5 for students. The Friday afternoon lecture at Lipinsky Auditorium is free and open to the public, with a $5 donation toward the T.C. Campbell Foundation suggested. For more information, contact Amy Lanou, UNC Asheville associate professor of health and wellness, at 828.250.2317.