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Life in 6 Land

Category Archives: McDougall

Plant-Based & Kid Friendly

While deciding on what to comment on today, I found a Facebook entry from Dr. John McDougall regarding an article in the New York Times that exploits “the tragedy of a family and to spread commonly held, but scientifically incorrect, information on human nutrition.” Back in 2007, Dr. McDougall responded to Nina Planck’s story, Death by Veganism in a letter to the editor, as well as addressing individual points on his website.

This time around, Ms. Panck continues her misinformed ways in a story titled, A Choice With Definite Risks. Again, without much scientific citation, she continues to support her 2007 position, in which a vegan diet is inadequate for babies and children. Unfortunately this is an op-ed piece that fit for the circular file. I find it rather appalling that the NYT fish wrap allows for this sort of piece to be printed. Again without citation and based on her credentials, which include “farmers’ daughter, food writer, farmers’ market entrepreneur, local foodist, and advocate for traditional foods” she continues to push and promote the standard American diet.

Articles like this should no longer come as a surprise, yet they do. When books like The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn are citing scientific data promoting a plant-based diet, some hack submits a pro-SAD piece and suddenly the American public reaffirms it’s eating “healthy” with all the meat, dairy and fats in their daily diet.

I had intended writing about trying to cook plant-based meals for my son. Guess I should no longer consider this since this lifestyle isn’t “adequate” for babies and children. I disagree with her, citing Dr. McDougall’s comments from 2007.

My son has expanded his palette over the course of nearly 6 months. Thankfully he, unlike me at his age, does like vegetables and fruit. Still, we have quite a bit of “bad food” as I call it, in the pantry. He is aware, but doesn’t understand why I consider it bad food. I am attempting to teach him nutrition, since I know his schooling won’t provide him a chance to learn there are other ways to eat and grow up healthy.

Many sites I find seem to tout their foods, “kid friendly” but looking at what is offered I find it hard to believe that picky kids eat many of these recipes. I could be wrong and probably am. My son is now eating more of what I make, but at times I do find myself falling back to the old habits and feeding a pizza or chicken nuggets. I have started making him sliders using Morningstar Sausage Patties. We does enjoy a hearty meal of rice and beans, as well as bean burritos. Last night he ate nearly half a sweet potato! So the changes, while slow are coming.

I make a real effort to leave the sugar out of his school lunch. After looking at what some of his classmates are eating as a snack, it’s quite surprising to see all the sugary snacks and drinks parents are sending to school. I usually end up making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a cheese sandwich. Much like dinner, there are times the processed foods end up in the lunch box. His snacks usually consist of a banana or strawberries, with a small bottle of water.

So while he isn’t McDougall compliant, there are changes happening. It’s more of a matter of getting rid of the “bad” and unhealthy snack foods. Since nutritional labels are so misleading, it’s easy to give your kids foods are appear healthy, but aren’t. Fruit snacks are a prime example! The first 3 ingredients, “Fruit Juice, Corn Syrup, Sugar” and a bit further down “Dextrose.” Yet the nutritional facts will show ZERO fat with 12 grams of sugar in 1 serving.

It’s more a matter of parents educating their children and not buying those types of foods. It can be difficult and easier to reach for something processed and toss it in the microwave. In my opinion, you are doing your child a disservice when it comes to their nutrition. I feel bad when I nuke my son’s processed meal. I want him to grow up healthy and strong and not have to wait 42 years to make the right decision as is relates to his health.

My Challenges of Going Plant-Based

I am shocked, the New York Times has an article titled The Challenge of Going Vegan today. First, I hate labels. I feel that calling myself “vegan” carries a negative connotation with it and immediate affiliation with PETA. I do however like to tell others I am “living plant strong” or “I eat a plant based diet.” Regardless of what you call me I can relate to the challenges of “going vegan” but not for some of the silly points in the article.

Use any search engine and type in “vegan recipes” or “vegetarian recipes” and one of the first things you will notice, the use of dairy, soy, tofu and most damaging, oil in vegan cooking. The common misconception is that vegan cooking is healthier. In my experience (all of 5 months) it can be, but continuing to cook with dairy and oil can be counterproductive and will continue to promote cancer and heart disease. See my article I wrote last month called Fat Vegans.

Next, I don’t get a shit which celebrity or athlete are “singing the benefits of a vegan diet.” It’s seems to be make headlines when some star promotes a vegan lifestyle. Following what these people do is ridiculous. If you want to change your diet…you lifestyle, then you do it for YOUR reasons, not because your favorite soap opera star did it.

It’s nice to see The China Study mentioned in the article. In my opinion this book should be a must read for EVERY American! While the article cites “meat consumption as the social cultural norm” it’s never too late to take health into your own hands and start living to eat. It’s not easy making a switch to a plant-based diet. In my case I gave myself a 3 month transition period in order to gain more knowledge and learn how to cook without meat, dairy and oil.

Unfortunately the articles fails when they begin citing “expensive” soy products. Personally, I think it’s wrong for those who are carnivores to immediate think soy and tofu are the alternatives to beef and chicken. They aren’t. In 5 months I have probably bought two soy products, these are not a staple in my “vegan” lifestyle.

When it comes to price I will also disagree with the article. I find my family and I are saving money when we go to the market. Why? We aren’t needed to pay for meat and dairy products, which quickly add it. It’s great to roll though those departments. I find that I can spend less and buy more when it comes to vegetables, legumes and tubers. The nice thing is being able to buy in bulk. We now buy 10 pound bags of potatoes, 8 pounds of onions, 5 pounds of pinto beans and 5 pounds of couscous, just as an example.

Being socially accepted has probably been the most difficult part. In my opinion, why should anyone care how or what I eat? They shouldn’t. I am now to the point where I will accept the comments and jokes are continually directed to me. Cooking for friends can be difficult. While I haven’t hosted a dinner party for carnivores, I have taken a few dishes to parties and many have times I have come how with no leftovers. People have commented on my three bean salad and tri-colored couscous salad. These are great dishes that can accompany any meal. I can guarantee the potato enchiladas I make would fill even the fiercest carnivore I know. Still many are under the misconception they need to eat meat to survive.

As for making a lifestyle change, I can’t call it a diet because it’s so much more than “just a diet” you must do it for YOUR reasons, not to be socially accepted. After learning, should I relearning nutrition and educating myself on what promotes heart disease and cancers making the decision to give up meat, dairy and oil wasn’t difficult. I mentioned a 3 month transition period earlier, this allowed me “break the rules” and still feel good that I am following a lifestyle that will promote a healthier lifestyle. Meat and oil were easy to give up, dairy was more difficult.

I found giving up cheese to be the hardest food to do without. I love the smell and taste of the wide varieties of cheese, which I would use in many dishes from pasta to casseroles. One thing I have learned, the use of substitutes for plant-based cooking. Now I use nutritional yeast combined with other ingredients to a make cheese sauce. Sure, its’t NOT real cheese, but after a few months it takes on a cheesy flavor. The longer I go without eating meat, cheese and oil, the more I enjoy my culinary experiences from the real flavors of the foods and spices I cook with.

While I would love to see everyone making the switch to a plant-based lifestyle, I know that will never happen. The meat and dairy industry back the USDA, who set the nutritional guidelines to keep Americans fat and unhealthy. It’s really a sad state of affairs when the nutritional guideline set are promoting a very unhealthy lifestyle. Not sure I will live to see a day where plant-based, whole grain lifestyle is the norm, but I am grateful I found it after 42 years. It’s never too late to start and the change doesn’t have to take place overnight.

Plant Based Clarity

There was a recent question posed in the McDougall Forums that read, “Has this WOE improved your mood/concentration/energy?” Now that I have been following this lifestyle for 5 months, 15 days I have noticed non-physical changes, especially in energy and clarity coupled with the improvement on my weight and blood work numbers. It hasn’t been easy and I have sacrificed many foods that were promoting atherosclerosis and heart disease, but I would not have it any other way.

The more reading and research I do the more this “way of eating” or WOE makes good health sense. I am now appalled when I walk through the supermarket at the crap that many people buy. I am notice just how obese MANY people in our society are and they are doing nothing to improve their health. Especially as it relates to eating.

Last week I took a trip to Winco to pick up some vegetables and couscous, unfortunately I picked the wrong checkout line. The lady in front of me was severely obese and obviously buying for quite a few kids. The food she was pulling out of her cart was nothing healthy! It was frozen this, processed that, sugar-filled foods and two bags of vegetables. It was amazing to watch the amount of unhealthy food that came out of this cart. Here I stand with my vegetables and couscous…waiting.

I mentioned clarity a moment ago, but I now notice just how unhealthy Americans are. Not sure I paid much attention to before changing my diet. All you need to do is visit the local supermarket and look at these obese people pushing their shopping carts and watch what they buy. Many follow this same regiment, daily. Many are also misled by food labels and don’t pay attention to what the nutritional data or ingredients say, just what the misleading advertising reads.

She’s not the only one. Many people are brought up thinking meat is needed for protein and milk helps promote strong bones. Those are thoughts promoted by the beef and dairy industry, who are all in this for one reason…and it’s not your health. It’s money, the bottom line, they don’t care about your health and only want to promote their food with flashy advertisements and star studded people flashing a milk mustache. I grew up under this misconception and it’s taken 42 years to realize my mistake and make the necessary changes.

I now feel I have an obligation to my son, who is only 6 years old to grow up healthy and strong. That cannot be accomplished on meat and dairy. Scientific research proves this, from doctors such as T. Colin Campbell and Caldwell Esselstyn Jr.

Dr. Esselstyn recommends, “no animal protein, no oil (nuts and avocado in small portions), no sugars (even natural ones like maple syrup, molasses or honey), no fruit juices/smoothies. If it seems extreme, consider the typical western diet that guarantees that we’ll have an epidemic of heart disease, hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, stroke and other chronic killing diseases” (source). Dr. Campbell and Dr. John McDougall both stress a similar diet to prevent and reverse disease.

It’s unfortunate that many Americans won’t get the message and if they do, will ignore it. My personal experience has been nothing but jokes when it comes to how I eat. Very few people don’t understand the reasons why I am following this lifestyle, many consider it a “diet” and due the extreme nature or their hardheadedness won’t accept change to better their health. All I need to do is look around in our office, the message has been well received by myself. Thankfully I have the necessary changes and now promoting a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s vegan!”

Some people just don’t get it. Listen, if you don’t like the way I have chosen to eat, then keep your mouth shut unless you have something constructive to add. Don’t stand there and tell me what I am doing is wrong or I am not getting enough of some nutrient. Why? Because chances are high you have no idea the details as to what I am doing. When I try to detail what and why, I am quickly labeled “vegan” and they walk away.

There continues to be a sticking point with oil. Why, I am not quite sure. One tablespoon of oil is 14 gram or 140 calories. From Jeff Novick, “It has no protein or essential amino acids (which we need), it has no carbohydrates, or sugars (which we need), it has no fiber (which we need), it has no minerals (which we need) and has virtually no vitamins (which we need) except for a small amount of Vit E and some phytosterols” (source). So why would I want to keep this junk food in my diet?

Recently I was at a gathering of friends and was offered some food. It didn’t look all that healthy and my first assumption was it contained oil. After eating it, I know it did as I could taste it. I asked the person serving me, for the contents of this dish and they replied, “It’s vegan.” Okay, so I pushed the oil question on them. “I said it was vegan.” Great it’s a vegan dish, I am glad to hear, but if it has oil, then I must decline.

A few minutes passed and that same individual confronted me and said, “You know you need fat in your diet, about 30% a day. Oil is good, as it has nutrients for brain development.” Okay, to a degree I can accept that some, like Omega 3 DHA fatty acid is needed for brain and eye tissue development, but stand there and chastise me because I passed on a dish I knew contained oil.

Again, it comes down to labeling me or those who follow this way of eating. It’s not for everyone and maybe look at me different because of what I don’t eat. That is fine with me, I look better than I have in months, I feel good and I am now in control of my health. So please, don’t try to bullshit me with what you THINK you know about how I eat or nutrition, especially as it relates to olive oil. Respect my decision to eat what I want.

The Starch Solution (Video)

The Starch Solution from John McDougall on Vimeo.

It’s not for you to understand why I made a decision to change my lifestyle and move to a starch based diet. The results have been short of amazing in less than 5 months. I don’t push anything I want to eat on my friends or co-workers. Sure I share many recipes and relate my story and experiences as they happen, but wanting to change and changing your diet takes commitment and determination to change.

I hear it all to often at work, “I can’t give up my meat!” People ask me all the time, “If you don’t eat meat, what are you cooking?” There is more to life than eating meat and dairy. It has taken me 42 years to realize everything I thought I knew about nutrition was wrong and now I am experience good nutrition as my health continues to improve. Thankfully my son will be able to experience the benefits growing up and not have to wait as long as I did.

Still people I talk to don’t want to change. A comment I hear usually come from women, “I can’t lose weight.” I am sure many of us have said that same thing at some point in our life. Then I tell them I have lost 30+ pounds and they are shocked. This leads me to ask, “Well what do you eat?” Unfortunately, before they answer that question, I know what they are going to say. In some form it ends up being the standard American diet. While they might be able to control portion size they are still eating meat and dairy, while cooking with oil. Instead of feeling satiated, they are hungry because of portion control or calorie restriction.

On the other hand, I don’t count calories or worry about portion size. I eat whatever I want and stop when I am full. In the 5 months I have been following this “way of eating” (or WOE) I have continued to see weight loss, but am eating more than I was prior to changing to this lifestyle. I have replaced much of the animal protein with plant protein and decreased the amount of fat I was eating by cutting out oil. Yes, even olive oil. As Dr. McDougall says, “the fat you eat, is the fat you wear.”

This video is just a brief introduction to what Dr. McDougall calls The Starch Solution. I am sure there will be many who won’t agree with what he says or believe the results be mentions in some of his case studies. Many long standing societies were based around starch, corn, potatoes, squash and rice. Along with eating well, getting healthy I have learned a considerable amount about good nutrition. Your doctor is not out for your good health, that is something each of must take control of.