The Starch Solution
Read The Starch Solution Online
Authors: MD John McDougall
“John McDougall, MD, has once again produced an outstanding book with recommendations gleaned from his decades of medical experience and strongly supported by the scientific literature. He has the courage to tell the truth about both the business of medicine, which largely ignores the role of diet, and the forces of evil that sell the promises of fractionated foods and diet fads. The information in this book can provide the reader the power needed to lose weight and regain health.”
—Alan Goldhamer, DC, director of TrueNorth Health Center and coauthor of
The Pleasure Trap
“The Starch Solution
is one of the most important books ever written on healthy eating. As Dr. McDougall shows us in his book, human beings flourish on starch foods from whole food sources. When combined with healthy servings of vegetables and fruits, we have the perfect diet to prevent and reverse the lifestyle diseases that are now killing 80 percent of Americans—obesity, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and cancer. The recipes included in the book are easy and delicious.
The Starch Solution
will change your life. Read it and live it.”
—John P. Mackey, co-chief executive officer and director of Whole Foods Market, Inc.
“This maverick physician has a wealth of knowledge that could be the key to a tremendous improvement. I personally know many people who have found the McDougall program to be the key to vastly improved health for themselves and their families. This book lays it out clearly and without compromise.”
—John Robbins, author of
No Happy Cows, The Food Revolution,
and
Diet for a New America
“This time the Star McDougaller is John himself, joining with Mary in creating a masterfully crafted nutrition guide that destroys harmful myths and enhances the enduring capacity of whole food plant based nutrition as the foundation to our long overdue health revolution.”
—Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, author of
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
“‘Eat all you want; any time you want.’ Statements that sound too good to be true usually are…too good to be true. But John McDougall’s new book
The Starch Solution,
richly referenced for science, but gracefully written for consumers, just might be both good and true.”
—George D. Lundberg MD, editor-at-large of
MedPage Today
“Great news! Thank you John! Now we can eat carbs guilt-free and maintain our figures.”
—Elizabeth Kucinich, director of public affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
“John McDougall has done it again. This time, clarifying the issue of starches and the important role they play in human nutrition, improving our health and the health of the planet.”
—Jeff Novick, RD, vice president for Executive Health Exams International and lecturer at the McDougall Program
To our grandchildren—
may the Starch Solution brighten your futures.
ONTENTS
Chapter 1. Starch: The Traditional Diet of People
Chapter 2. People Passionate about Starches Are Healthy and Beautiful
Chapter 3. Five Major Poisons Found in Animal Foods
Chapter 4. Spontaneous Healing on a Starch-Based Diet
Chapter 5. The USDA and the Politics of Starch
Chapter 6. We Are Eating the Planet to Death
Chapter 7. When Friends Ask: Where Do You Get Your Protein?
Chapter 8. When Friends Ask: Where Do You Get Your Calcium?
Chapter 9. Confessions of a Fish Killer
Chapter 11. Just to Be on the Safe Side: Stay Away from Supplements
Chapter 12. Salt and Sugar: The Scapegoats of the Western Diet
Chapter 13. Practicing the Starch Solution
Chapter 14. The 7-Day Sure-Start Plan
Chapter 15. Our Favorite Recipes
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
T
he Starch Solution
is the result of 44 years of personal care of thousands of patients, most of whom once suffered from dietary diseases. From these people we have learned our most valuable lessons. Many medical and nutritional pioneers, including Russell Henry Chittenden, PhD; Harold Percival Himsworth, KCB; William Rose, PhD; Walter Kempner, MD; Denis Burkitt, FRS; Nathan Pritikin, and Roy Swank, MD, laid the scientific foundations for the materials in this book.
Our grateful appreciation to:
Carole Bidnick, literary agent, for securing a powerful publisher.
Shannon Welch, Ursula Cary, Marie Crousillat, and Marilyn Hauptly for editing for success.
Cathy Fisher and Jennie Schacht for their help with writing.
Lisa Kahn for crafting the illustrations.
Star McDougallers for sharing their stories.
McDougall followers for contributing ideas and recipes.
The National Library of Medicine for providing access to the basic science.
OTE TO THE
R
EADER
D
iet is powerful medicine. Do not change your diet or start an exercise program if you are seriously ill or on medications unless you are under the watchful guidance of a health care provider knowledgeable about nutrition and its effects on health and about the medications you are taking. The people in this book are real and their names are used with their permission. If you do as they have done, you should expect similar results. Although no treatment gives ideal outcomes for everyone, in most cases the Starch Solution provides an opportunity to remain free from common illnesses and to regain health and appearance. (Benefits with cancer recovery are real, but less common and well established.)
The McDougall Diet is based on starches with the addition of fruits and vegetables. If you follow this low-fat vegan plan strictly for more than 3 years, or if you are pregnant or nursing, then take a minimum of 5 micrograms of supplemental vitamin B
12
daily.
C
ONTACT
I
NFORMATION
Dr. McDougall’s Health and Medical Center
PO Box 14039
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
Telephone: (707) 538-8609 Fax: (707) 538-0712
E-mail:
[email protected]
On the Web:
www.drmcdougall.com
Residential programs: (800) 941-7111 / (707) 538-8609
Book and DVD orders:
www.drmcdougall.com/books_tapes.html
REFACE
S
tarch has unlocked the door to good health for thousands of my patients over the last four decades, allowing them to lose excess weight and heal from diet-related illnesses, like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and inflammatory arthritis. More than 5,000 people have taken part in the McDougall residential programs, the vast majority forever altering the course of their lives. One and a half million others have purchased my previous 11 books. The longer I practice medicine, the more crystal clear the solution becomes.
The Starch Solution
shares what I have learned and teaches what you can and must do to regain control of your health and appearance. With intuitive information backed by scientific proof, an easy-to-follow plan, and nearly 100 simple and satisfying recipes to pave the way,
The Starch Solution
shows you how to reclaim your life, all by enjoying your favorite foods.
Whatever you are doing now is not working. That’s why you’ve picked up this book. Most likely, you’ve tried other diets—probably many of them—but they have failed you. That’s because most diets make losing weight easy if you stick with them—but because they ask you to suffer a life of deprivation, or make you feel ill, they are not sustainable. Instead, you lose weight, then you lose interest, quickly gaining all the weight back and more.
The Starch Solution
is different because it offers a way of eating that keeps you feeling satisfied. You won’t feel hungry or deprived, because starches are not only healthy, they’re also comforting and filling. This is a plan you can follow indefinitely—even when you stray by
not following it 100 percent—and its benefits will be with you for a lifetime. In other words, this is not an all-or-nothing approach.
Beyond shedding excess weight almost effortlessly, you will look better, feel better, function better, and live better. For the majority of people, blood pressure and cholesterol will drop and digestion will finally work the way it should. In most cases, you will be able to get off and stay off prescription and nonprescription medications and supplements, saving a bundle and enjoying good health naturally. Once you try it and see the results, you will know for certain that the Starch Solution is the answer you have been searching for your whole life. If you wish, skip ahead to test the plan yourself by using the 7-Day Sure-Start Plan in
Chapter 14
, while you continue to read and learn how and why the Starch Solution works.
You will have questions along the way, but fear not; I have heard most of them before and I have answered them here for you. You needn’t worry about getting sufficient protein, calcium, vitamins, or other nutrients. These ingredients are naturally built into the foods. With an informed mind you will be able to evaluate health claims in product advertising, diet books, and public health messages. You will even learn why, if this approach holds such great promise, you have not heard this information before.