Dr. john mcdougall diet. The McDougall diet, or why potatoes are the new superfood. An exemplary sample menu of a one-day diet on starches

Instead of losing weight, do you lose interest and motivation, and the pounds you lose quickly come back? Unexpectedly, potatoes can help in this situation. The latest research suggests reconsidering the attitude towards starchy foods.

In his recently published book The Power of Starch (MIF), Dr. John McDougall offers a fresh look at the eating habits of modern man. The book provides a step-by-step plan for transitioning to McDougall nutrition, as well as recipes for simple and delicious dishes. The doctor calls for the complete elimination of meat and dairy products from the diet and replacing them with whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits. In a new study, a doctor describes a starchy diet and provides tips for maintaining excellent health. We understand what's what.

DNA proves we are starch eaters

Experts have long come to the conclusion that the basis of the diet of primates, including humans, should be plant foods. Our anatomy and physiology require it. The natural diet of our closest relative, the chimpanzee, is almost entirely vegetarian. On dry days, when fruit is scarce, chimpanzees eat nuts, seeds, flowers, and bark.

Genetic testing has shown that human development is best promoted by starch. The DNA of humans and chimpanzees is almost identical. One minor difference is that our genes help us digest more starch - an important evolutionary change. It was our ability to digest starch and satisfy our energy needs with it that allowed us to move to the northern and southern regions and populate the entire planet.

Starches satisfy appetite better than meat

The feeling of hunger is essential for our survival. You can't fool your hunger by walking away from the table, putting down your fork in the middle of a meal, serving food on small plates, or counting calories. You've probably heard that when it comes to weight, all calories are the same. This is not the case, especially when it comes to satisfying appetite and accumulating fat. The three components of food that produce the fuel we know as "calories" are proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Starches such as corn, beans, potatoes and rice are high in carbohydrates and dietary fiber and very low in fat.

Satisfying hunger begins with filling the stomach. Compared to cheese (4 kcal per 1 g), meat (4 kcal per 1 g) and oils (9 kcal per 1 g), starches are low in calories (about 1 kcal per 1 g). They give you a feeling of fullness with only one-fourth of the calories found in cheese and meat and one-ninth of the calories in butter. In addition, this feeling of satiety is more complete. Studies comparing the ways in which carbohydrates and fats satisfy hunger show that carbohydrates satisfy appetite for several hours, while fats have a short-term effect. In other words, if your dinner consists of starch, you will not feel hungry for a long time, while if it is fat, you will very soon want to eat again.

Excess starch does not turn into body fat

A widely held myth claims that the sugars in starch are easily converted into fat, which is then deposited on the abdomen, thighs, and buttocks. If you look at the research on this topic, you will see that all scientists agree that this is not true! After eating, we break down complex carbohydrates into simple sugars. These sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream, which transports them to trillions of body cells to provide energy. If you eat more carbohydrates than your body needs, almost a kilogram of carbohydrates can quietly accumulate in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. You burn these reserves in the form of heat and physical activity, and not even during sports, but, for example, when you go to work, type, work in the yard, or simply change your body position while reading.

The idea that carbohydrates in our body turn into fat, which tends to accumulate, is just a myth and nothing more: in the human body, even a significant amount of carbohydrates leads to the appearance of a completely insignificant amount of subcutaneous fat. However, the situation is somewhat different in the case of animal and vegetable fats. A cruise ship passenger puts on an average of three to four kilograms over a seven-day trip - due to the fact that he eats a buffet system that includes meat, cheese, vegetables in oil and fatty desserts. Where did your belly fat come from? The fat you carry around is the fat you eat.

Starches give us energy

Thanks to a diet based on starches, you will literally glow with health, while getting rid of excess body fat. Endurance athletes know the benefits of "charcoal loading". In addition to providing maximum performance, a starchy diet improves blood flow to all body tissues. The face and skin become brighter due to improved blood circulation. A pleasant side effect of eating low-fat starches is the disappearance of oily sheen, blackheads, comedones and acne. Thanks to weight loss and, as a result, tangible relief of arthritis symptoms, people on such a diet feel active, mobile and younger.

Self-healing with a diet on starches

Three-quarters of the diseases that affect people in developed countries are long-term chronic conditions: obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. What unites the sick? A diet consisting mainly of meat and dairy products, fats and processed foods. Understanding the problem leads to a simple solution: By replacing these body-heavy foods with healthy starches, vegetables, and fruits, we can reduce or even eliminate the enormous personal, social, and economic costs that chronic disease entails.

Starches support our body's natural ability to repair itself by providing the perfect balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, fats, vitamins and minerals along with a balance of antioxidants and other plant phytochemicals. Unlike disease-causing foods, starches do not contain large amounts of cholesterol, saturated or unsaturated fats, animal proteins, chemical toxins, or dangerous microbes.

The author of the unique starch diet is University of Hawaii professor John McDougall, he "broke" all the stereotypical concepts of a rational, well-balanced diet. The nutritionist offers his patients to completely refuse to include protein-containing foods in order to speed up the metabolic processes of the body, thereby getting rid of excess body weight.

Numerous clinical experiences and developments that were carried out by an experienced nutritionist gave positive results and showed everyone that best digestion the human body are subject to starchy foods nutrition. Therefore, eating only such food, the human body will not experience shock, and when using a low-calorie diet, it will quickly give up fat deposits accumulated over the years.

Based on the experience and results of scientific research, John McDougall created special starch diet, which advises everyone to use, subject to good tolerance, or to use as a permanent nutrition system. Professor absolutely convinced that is properly designed human diet must be on 70% whole grain, legumes and potatoes, on the 20% - from fresh and boiled vegetables and on the 10% - from fresh fruit.

All products and dishes of industrial production should be completely excluded - these are concentrates, pastries, sweets and confectionery.

On the dessert only allowed to use dried fruits and various kinds of nuts. Also, throughout the entire time of this type of nutrition, it is imperative to take complexes vitamin-containing drugs, because the human body is faced with a large shortage of microelements.

Eggs, meat, fish and dairy dishes are also subject to exclusion from the diet.

This peculiar feeding method will be perfect for those who will not suffer shortage in food animal protein. In the event that you cannot do without eating steaks, a slice of bran bread with cheese or a glass of natural yogurt or kefir, then it is best to choose another method of losing weight.

In official medicine protein free diet used to treat patients diagnosed with renal failure and cirrhosis of the liver. Of course, such patients get rid of fat accumulations on this type of diet, but they also lose a certain amount of muscle tissue at the same time. Once again, it is worth recalling that on starches it will be good only for people who do not suffer from a complete absence of protein foods in their diet.

In the same time starch diet has quite critical reviews and opinions of many contemporary nutritionists . They assure that this method of losing weight should be used for a very short period of time, and then only as a small unloading after a long abuse of meat, smoked and fatty foods.

An exemplary sample menu of a one-day diet on starches

Breakfast:

• a portion of oatmeal cooked in water without oil, with the addition of a small handful of raisins;
• a glass of unsweetened rosehip broth.

Snack:

• 25 grams of pumpkin or sunflower seeds.

Dinner:

• a large portion of fresh salad of tomatoes, green lettuce, white cabbage, cucumbers, sweet peppers, finely chopped dill, parsley and basil;
• two large baked potatoes.

Snack:

• one big green apple and banana.

Dinner:

• a cup of boiled lentils or white beans;
• any fresh vegetables in unlimited quantities or a salad from them, without adding oil;
• a glass of rosehip infusion.

Chinese study. Findings from the Largest Diet-Health Study by Campbell Thomas

The fate of Dr. McDougall

The fate of Dr. McDougall

When John McDougall completed his higher medical education, he opened a practice on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. He began writing books on nutrition and health and became known throughout America. In the mid 1980s. John was contacted by St. Helena Hospital in Napa Valley, California and asked if he would like to take a position at their medical center. It was a Seventh-day Adventist hospital; if you remember from chapter 7, this teaching encourages a vegetarian diet (although the followers of the teaching consume dairy products in excess of the average level). It was too good an opportunity to pass up, and John left Hawaii for California.

He spent many fruitful years at St. Helena's. He taught about nutrition and recommended the transition to a healthy diet in the treatment of sick patients, which he managed to unusually successfully. He has treated more than 2,000 seriously ill patients, and in 16 years he has never been sued or even filed a complaint. Perhaps more importantly, John saw his patients recover. During this time, he continued to publish his work, maintaining his reputation. But gradually he began to understand: something had changed compared to what it was when he first arrived at the hospital. His discontent grew.

Later, he spoke of these years as follows: “I simply did not see any prospects in front of me. The program involved 150–170 people a year, and that was it. This number has not increased. I did not receive support from the hospital and had to overcome numerous administrative obstacles.”

He began to flare up small conflicts with other doctors of the hospital. At some point, objections arose from the cardiology department about McDougall's methods of treatment. In response, John suggested to them: "Let me send each of my patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases to you for a second consultation, if you, in turn, will send your patients to me." It was perfectly reasonable, but they did not agree. On another occasion, John referred one of the patients to a cardiologist, who mistakenly told the patient that he needed a bypass. After a couple of such incidents, John increased the number of his patients to the maximum possible. Finally, John called the cardiologist after he recommended surgery to another of his patients and said, “I want to talk to you and the patient. I would like to discuss the scientific literature on the basis of which you made such a recommendation. The cardiologist refused to do it, to which John objected: “Why not? You just recommended this guy open heart surgery! And you're going to charge him 50,000 or 100,000 bucks. Why can't we discuss this? Don't you think this is unfair to the patient? The cardiologist replied that the discussion would only confuse the patient. This was the last time he recommended heart surgery to McDougall's patients.

In the meantime, none of the other doctors at the hospital ever sent their patients to John. Never. They sent their wives and children to him, but never their patients. According to John, the reason was as follows:

“They were worried about [what would happen] when patients came to me, and what really happened every time the patients came to me themselves. They came with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. I advised them to follow a diet, and they no longer needed drugs, and their medical indicators returned to normal. They said to their doctor, “What the hell have I heard from you before? Why did you let me suffer, spend money, almost die, when all I wanted was oatmeal?” The doctors didn't want to hear it."

There were other tensions between John and his colleagues at the hospital, but the last straw was Roy Swank's MS program, which was mentioned in Chapter 9.

John contacted Swank and learned that he was about to retire soon. For a long time he knew and respected this doctor and proposed to merge his MS program with his medical practice at St. Helena's Hospital, retaining its name in honor of Swank. He, to John's great delight, agreed. As John said, this program fit perfectly into the medical practice of St. Helena for four reasons:

It was consistent with the principle of the Adventists: the cure of diseases through nutrition;

She allowed to help people who needed it;

It would double the number of their patients, which would help expand the program;

The cost of the program was almost zero.

Recalling this, McDougall says: “Could you think of one reason not to do it? It [was] taken for granted!” Therefore, he came with this proposal to the head of the department in which he worked. She replied that she did not think the hospital should agree to this: “I don’t think we really need to introduce new programs at the moment.” A stunned John asked, “Please explain why. What is a hospital for? What are we here for? I thought, in order to treat sick people.”

The answer of the head of the department was amazing: “Of course, this is true, but people suffering from multiple sclerosis are not the most desirable patients. You yourself told me that most neurologists do not like to treat such patients. John couldn't believe what he was hearing. After a tense pause, he said:

"Wait a minute. I am a doctor. Here is a hospital. As far as I know, our task is to alleviate the suffering of patients. These people are sick. Just because other doctors can't help them doesn't mean we can't either. Scientific evidence shows that it is in our power. I successfully treat those who need my help, and this is a hospital. Can you explain to me why we don't want to help these patients?"

“I would like to speak with the head physician of the hospital. I will try to explain to her why this program is needed, why the hospital needs it, and why patients need it. I ask you to arrange our meeting."

But the conversation with the head physician was no less difficult. John discussed the situation with his wife. He had to renew his contract with the hospital in a couple of weeks, and he decided not to do it. He warmly said goodbye to his colleagues and to this day does not feel any personal resentment. He simply explains that they had different goals in life. McDougall prefers to remember St. Helena's as the kind home it was to him for 16 years, but it was also an institution "connected to pharmaceutical company money."

Today McDougall, supported by his family, runs a highly successful "lifestyle cure" program, maintains a popular news blog open to the public (www.drmcdougall.com), organizes group trips with former patients and new friends, and windsurfs more frequently. when the wind picks up in Bodega Bay. This doctor, who has extensive knowledge and high qualifications, could help millions of people improve their health. Colleagues never questioned his dignity as a specialist, and yet official medicine does not need his services. He is constantly reminded of this:

“Patients with rheumatoid arthritis come to me. They move in wheelchairs, they cannot even turn the ignition key in their car. I start treating them and three or four weeks later they go to their doctor. They firmly shake his hand. The doctor exclaims: “Great!” The excited patient replies: “I want to tell you what I did. I went to McDougall, changed my diet and cured my arthritis.” The doctor replies, “Oh my god, this is great. Whatever you do, keep going and then come to me.” The answer is always the same. They don't say, "Please tell me what you did so that I would recommend it to other patients." They say, "Whatever you do is great." If the patient starts talking about switching to a vegetarian diet, the doctor interrupts him: “Okay, great, you are a really strong person. Thank you very much, see you later.” The patient must be escorted out of the office as quickly as possible. It's dangerous... very dangerous."