Dr. John McDougall

I started college in Sept of 1979 at age 18. I don't remember how Dr McDougall's came to me or where I bought it. I read it, and immediately knew it was not for me, it was way way too strict and joyless.

Fast forward in time and I am now 55, and he has written at least 3 books that I can think of, probably a great deal more as his wife publishes her recipes under both their names and the message is exactly the same. There is nothing in this book that I didn't read nearly 40 years ago. He wrote a book about 2 years ago called The Starch Solution, so it is completely pointless to continue to write new books and sell them at high prices ( mine is from the library however ) with the same exact message repeated book after book after book, with nothing new to say or add.

It is not a diet I could or would want to spend my life doing. It is basically sweet potatoes, white potatoes, pasta,rice, beans, a few fruits and a small amount of non starchy vegetables as well as bread and grains.

No oil at all, no olives, no soy, no fake 'meat ', no protein shakes, no home made veggie juices, no supplements, very little salt, sugar is allowed surprizingly, in addition to no meat, fish, fowl, dairy or eggs. Also no nuts.

So it is basically such a low fat limited diet that it is virtually fat free. Does it work ? Who knows, he says it does and maybe it does, but I see no harm at all in having 1 tablespoon a day of oil, a small handful of nuts or some olives, we do need some fat in our diets, and I tablespoon of oil is 14 grams so that is not excessive at all.

I can't recommend this book - however, if it works for you and your health improves then maybe he is on to something. I just don't want to spend whatever life I have left to live, especially being Italian, never having another olive again.… (mehr)