McDougall Diet

misch_ka

Hello!

Is anyone here on the McDougall diet - or heard of it or is interested in it?

I've just listened to a lot of various videos on YouTube about this diet and I'm intrigued to say the least.

The diet is a vegan one with huge focus on starches (rice, potatoes, etc.). The doctor claims that it has huge anti-inflammatory benefits and has even improved/gotten rid of symptoms of MS (multiple sclerosis) and RA (rheumatoid arthritis) for which there otherwise is no cure.

I have to say that I was vegan once before and I was at my healthiest then. But I was also much younger back then ... from when I was 19 years old to perhaps 23 and I was stopped on the street, all the time, by other women asking me what do I do to get such amazing skin and hair ... Not to mention I was a size 0/00 without any effort whatsoever.

I think I'm going for this, folks, I've ordered the book on the diet + a recipe book and I would LOVE to meet other folks that are either interested in this or actively doing this ...

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I avoid any diet with a name.

Alatariel75

Having looked very seriously into the treatment of MS, I can say there is no diet that has ever been proven to cure/eliminate the symptoms of MS, and so I look very very darkly on any diet that claims it can. The fact that McDougall says flat out that MS is caused by the Western Diet makes me want to punch him repeatedly.

misch_ka

Alatariel75 - what is it caused by then? I'm honestly asking as I don't know. Also, I don't think he claims to 'cure' it ... I haven't seen such a claim at least.

misch_ka

RuNaRoUnD ... I don't think that's even the name. I just called it that as he is the one that came up with it.

Alatariel75

misch_ka wrote: »

Alatariel75 - what is it caused by then? I'm honestly asking as I don't know. Also, I don't think he claims to 'cure' it ... I haven't seen such a claim at least.

He flat out claims that MS is caused by a western diet, and can be cured by his diet. He makes me sick.

And medical science doesn't know the cause, despite billions of dollars and decades of research. If it was diet based, they'd know by now. McDougall is a disgusting hack who tells blatant lies to vulnerable people to sell books.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

misch_ka wrote: »

RuNaRoUnD ... I don't think that's even the name. I just called it that as he is the one that came up with it.

You don't need any "Diet" that is sold to you. They make up a load of bull *kitten* to make money from you. You can eat any food you like, you just eat less calories than you burn.

Fuzzipeg

As someone who reacts to chemicals I can see much in the argument that modern life contributes to much which ails us. We are exposed to all sorts of chemicals in our environment in things from carpets, to floor tiles to general clothing, vehicle emissions and the buildings we live in and that is before we come to our food. The problem is there is and never will be one clear answer because our individual bodies will always react differently to contaminants. Probably understanding the ways our bodies eliminate toxins would give future generation better hope, that has to be preferable to forgoing much we take for granted. Many health problems are put down to our food and as other societies which have adopted the western diet they have acquired the same health problems it may help if we can reintroduce the environment they have before the change in diet because a key could be there.

misch_ka

RuNaRoUnD ... I hear what you're saying. But you are just assuming I am in this to lose weight. I don't need to lose weight. I'm in a healthy weight range, healthy body fat range, I want to do this for other reason - mainly to reduce amount of inflammation in my system that this doctor claims is from eating animal products and meat. One thing I have a bit of a problem with is that he wants folks to also stay away from vegetable oils ... I also see vegan diet as one of the main ways to solve our global environmental degradation problem. I am very well aware of how weigh gain works. Never had problem figuring that one out as it's first grade math problem.

singingflutelady

McDougall also claims to have cured ulcerative colitis patients by eliminating dairy from their diets.. ..

misch_ka

singingflutela ... Did he? The only thing I've witnessed on the videos I watched was testimonials of those that have had success with the diet. Testimonials from folks.

The thing is, I am not here to speak for him and defend his diet, but it looks super interesting for me and better than 99.9% of the diets out there - especially the idiotic LCHF diets ...

feisty_bucket

misch_ka wrote: »

looks super interesting for me and better than 99.9% of the diets out there - especially the idiotic LCHF diets ...

Idiotic huh? Interesting. OK, try this quack's diet out for a few years and report back.

callsitlikeiseeit

anything named after someone is just trying to make that someone money.

learn what your deficit is. eat to that. whatever you like. learn to weigh your food.

i eat whatever i want and have lost 80 pounds and am still going. i just eat a lot less than i used to.

ps: starches dont have a lot of nutrients.

crazyycatladyy1

I'm not fond of the man, but I have transitioned over to a mostly whole foods, plant based diet, (with fish 4-5 times a week), based on what I've been researching about blue zones, as well as the big meta study that recently came out from the Imperial College London about vegetable and fruit quantity, and its connection to a statistical reduction for a whole bunch of diseases. I now base my days around 800g-1,000g of veggies, (with a small amount of fruit), whole grains, beans, fish, eggs etc. I'm not super strict about it and I still eat red meat once a week, (locally raised, grass fed beef that my relatives buy from a hobby farmer and we have steaks on the grill every Sunday), and then the occasional hotdog over the fire pit in the summertime. I'm focusing on adding foods to my diet that may have a better long term affect, than what I had been eating before.

Op, I can give you some links if you want some reading material, just let me know.

eta: pre-coffee grammar fixes lol

singingflutelady

suzannesimmons3 wrote: »

misch_ka wrote: »

singingflutela ... Did he?

NO he didn't.

@suzannesimmons3 it was written on his website so yes he did say that

Ok found it:"A large series of patients improved, and many were actually cured of this serious condition by simply removing milk (dairy proteins) from their diet. "

https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/health-science/common-health-problems/colitis-severe/

ninerbuff

Should change to the diet name to McDowell's:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djI_ret3S9g

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

misch_ka

feisty_bucket ... yeah, idiotic. Anything that advocates for more meat-consumption is idiotic in my book. I don't see him as a quack. There are more reasons to go vegan besides weight loss. Believe it or not, some of us don't actually need to lose weight nor want to, yet they still want to improve their health / health of the entire planet.

misch_ka

callsitlikeiseeit ... I'm not in it for weight loss. I don't need to lose weight. I have an autoimmune disease called psoriasis and I want to get rid of it before it does more damage to my system. Unforunately, there is no formal cure for it and it is considered 'incurable,' which I don't buy. What I do buy is that the cure really is the food we eat. Now, we can discuss which food is the biggest culprit ... McDougall claims it is meat and dairy. I've been wanting to go vegan for a while, so that really is not an issue for me ... I do however have a bit of an issue with him being against vegetable oils. I was wondering if I could get in touch with anyone that has tried the diet and discuss with them the pros and the cons.

misch_ka

singingflutela ... Well, that's great to hear that some can cure themselves of a disease by eliminating dairy. I don't think that should really shock anyone. He's not attributing that to himself or his diet, he merely mentioned in the text you posted that some of the patients have gotten rid of the disease by stopping with diary ... I really don't see that as shocking or weird or ... quackish. Where I live it's well known that many folks are sensitive to diary and if one has an issue related to digestion, the number one suggestion of a doctor with two brain cells to rub together is - stop eating dairy ...

estherdragonbat

There might be some truth in meat being a culprit. I had a bad condition on my scalp that I think was psoriasis, but was never medically diagnosed; it could've been dandruff or eczema. I went vegetarian at 19 and it cleared up in a matter of weeks and it rarely flares up now (and when it does, it's just for a couple of days here and there, once every few years or so.) I haven't cut dairy out of my diet and I've never heard of the plan you're suggesting. So my n=1 (and again, it might not be psoriasis; it manifested as a scabby rash on my scalp that was really only obvious to me, when I scratched my head) is that cutting out primary animal protein seems to have gotten a dermatological condition under control.