September ASW

[f1jim]

Well it's now over and it's great to have another ASW in the bank. Here is the recap of the days events:
The breakfast was great. I went back twice for the roasted potatoes and fresh fruit. Thank goodness we had a speaker at 8:00am or I'd still be in there eating. There was definitely a step up in the food for this event. There is always great food but there were more things I liked at every meal and I went back specifically to try as much as I could.

Dr. McDougall kicked us off with his talk on distractions. These are the things that might be important but shouldn't distract us from the real mission of getting everyone to change their eating to a true, healthy diet. He explained in detail why the issues of the Paleo diet, gluten free, and the GMO issue should be viewed as secondary to the main issue. He was forceful and impassioned.
Then Wes Youngberg came on and gave his talk...Goodbye to Diabetes. This man was a bundle of energy and will. He really had the place rockin' by the end of his talk. Another moment that got my wife to get out the checkbook and buy his book. He was GOOD!!!!
Then Dr. Klapper gave a fine talk on how he evaluates new patients and decides on a program for them. He is always a joy to hear and he is a fine addition to the McDougall staff. Those attending one of the 10 day or 5 day programs will be impressed by his hands on approach to helping those with there issues. Learning about his background was helpful.

Then it's lunch time and I'm still a bit full from breakfast! I had some of the Tex-Mex lasagne and a bowl of the Vegetables and beans. I blinked and it was time to go back in for the next lecture. Had a bit of time with forum member Donna and her sister. These are wonderful people.

Dr. Vijayshree Yadav was the head of the McDougall MS study at the OHSU school and gave us the background on the study, the various protocols, and data regarding dropouts and compliance. She also gave us the data on the participants regarding their beginning and ending blood values and weight fluctuations. It was clear the McDougall group made great strides in all these areas. We were not allowed to hear the final results until they are published. I was disappointed those results won't be out till about April. It appears they will be an important tool in the battle to treat MS. Unfortunately, more waiting.

Doug Lisle gave a new talk called Stepping Stones to Self-Esteem. Super talk that gave us insights into the inner workings of self esteem and their use in our lives. He has a way of zeroing in on stuff that really applies to eating this way. Look for this talk if it appears on Youtube or elsewhere.

Dr. McDougall gave us a moving wrap up of the weekend. Boy has he been on fire this weekend. He again emphasized the need to get all of us working to get involved in making changes that will benefit us as individuals and to make the world a better place. We can do so much even as individuals but even more as part of a movement to make changes. He gave us a summary of the speakers and their key message and gave us the news that at the next ASW Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. T. Colin Campbell have both agreed to speak. It's great to hear Dr. Esselstyn is back on the circuit after his significant bike accident.

Another very rewarding event for me personally. My friends that attended with us enjoyed it very much. I expect them back again soon.
f1jim

[MSNomad]

Thanks for the recap, Jim!

[colonyofcells]

I hope Dr McDougall will be able to do more scientific studies on the McDougall diet since Atkins and Taubes received lots of criticism from people like Dr Ornish bec. the high fatters were not doing any scientific studies. T Colin Campbell also likes to see more studies on the unprocessed low fat vegan diet bec. he does not like studies that compare unhealthy people with unhealthy people since most studies of vegans include the processed food vegans or the high fat vegans.

[f1jim]

Dr. McDougall has been around a long time and his integrity is unquestioned. He is not in the Dr. Atkins class of wealth, however, and the money for the study comes from his no-profit charity. This is it's first project and a fine choice in my opinion. Time will tell if it's worth the money spent. I'm encouraged. I also encourage those of you that wish to see money put to good use donate to this fund and watch your money get put to better use than the beef, dairy, and pork industries money! It's a great place to donate money as you can see exactly where the money is going. I advice everyone to compare the study here with the ones the Atkins foundation funds. Ask yourself if they compare on the integrity scale. Those in the diet group for the MS study went through a 10 day program just like you or I would. There was no changes to the McDougall diet to manipulate the outcome of the study. This is a model of proper research protocol.
f1jim

[Annitenth]

Since we were driving 1200 miles home, not flying, this is the first chance I've had to comment on the ASW. Of the three we have attended, this was the best. And it was, as Dr. McDougall acknowledged, a no-name weekend. No Ornishes, Esselstyns, Campbells, etc...just experts in their fields you've probably never heard of, and they were good. This will not be our last weekend.

[f1jim]

It was great seeing you again Anne. I'm glad we got some time to chat and share. I hope it won't be the last time.
f1jim

[Adrienne]

I finished watching last week’s ASW, the 9th one I have watched. Here are my thoughts for those interested:

I enjoyed Pamela Peeke – she was very entertaining and fun to listen to. I like how she referred to the treadmill as the “dreadmill.” However, I can see why, as Dr McD said in the intro, she was there to talk about lifestyle because he has “the diet part down.” If you caught the one slide she presented about diet it showed that she recommends a diet of 25-35% fat, 25-35% protein and 30-50% carbohydrate. Sounds like a low carber! Although maybe the weekend changed all of that. I can’t help but think that her good friend, the overweight Surgeon General, would do far better on the diet Dr McD recommends. Also I do NOT share her enthusiasm for the future of genetic testing to determine what our specific dietary needs are (I think she said it was called nutrigenomics). But these points were a minor part of her 3.5 hr (in total) presentation.

Wes Youngberg was also very energetic. Too bad he didn’t time his presentation well, as he had to rush through the last section.

Pam Popper was great. I liked how she referred to herself as a “recovering Naturopath,” or something like that.

Dr Klapper was a pleasant surprise. I have heard him speak several times at the ASWs and IMO this was easily his most interesting presentation.

I liked Doug Lisle’s new lecture. I always learn so much from him. However, I am not sure I agree or understand his comment about how men find overweight women unattractive because being overweight mimics pregnancy. I always thought, from an evolutionary standpoint, the argument was that men are hard-wired to find overweight women unattractive because the excess fat signals poor health. And if pregnancy is reason why men find overweight women unattractive then what is the explanation for women finding overweight men unattractive?

I really enjoyed Robert Goodland, Dan Piraro and both of Dr McD’s lectures.

My favorite though was Richard Wrangham, which is the presentation I was most looking forward to. I have read Catching Fire a few times and the slides and colorful images really brought the book to life. I do wish he spoke longer (or even better spoke twice) as there was so much he did not talk about, specifically the more social/interpersonal results of cooking. For those who found the lecture interesting I highly recommend the book. But I did love the lengthy interaction between him and Dr McD. I hope he is invited back.

And then there was David Jenkins who thinks our diet should resemble that of the great apes, despite the fact that, as Wrangham presented, our guts and teeth are very different from our ape ancestors and we are not physiologically designed for all that raw plant food.

I did enjoy his lecture but I have to say that I was disappointed to see his slide that said that the quality of carbohydrate has a greater effect on CHD than saturated fat. Really? Worse than saturated fat? IMO this sends the message that animal foods maybe aren’t so bad and the main culprit for CHD is refined carbs. And that this information if coming from someone who promotes plant-based eating makes it all that more disappointing.

And I was surprised to see him present that NEJM study on the med diet that was all over the news earlier this year as evidence for nut consumption. As Jeff, Dr McD and others showed, there was so much wrong with that study! I wonder why he did not reach the same conclusion. In fact, all those nut studies he presented left me thinking that he needs to watch Jeff’s nuts DVD and/or read that vegsource article since most or all are covered there. That meta-analysis he talked about regarding nuts and weight gain, did he not bother to look at those individual studies? Perhaps the fact that he receives grants from the Almond Board (among other food industries) impairs the way he views the research whether he is conscious of it or not. At least though he acknowledged his conflicts of interest at the beginning. I am so thankful that Jeff and Dr McD don’t have these conflicts of interests and that they take the time and effort to properly analyze studies.

But I appreciate his overall work and his efforts to get people to eat a plant-based diet (and to not eat fish or take fish oil!). So the presentation left me thinking something John Mackey said once at the ASW: The perfect is the enemy of the good.

While I was disappointed with the MS lecture, for obvious reasons, overall it was a great ASW to watch (though definitely not the best).

And just to add, I wanted to make a comment about my favorite audience member, Scott the photographer. At every ASW he asks really good questions and I always appreciate his contributions. I do hope that one day he is able to overcome his own dietary obstacles, lose all his excess weight and become a star mcdougaller.

[f1jim]

Excellent observations. We all watch these presentations through McDougall eyes so many times we catch ourselves asking if the weekend promotes changes in the speakers outlook as much as they do on the audience. There have been several instances where we are convinced that the message and the interaction with the audience clearly impacted several of them. They all tend to break bread and converse with the attendees so it's certainly an interactive environment they find themselves in.
But they are here to impart a particular viewpoint and that viewpoint many times is not McDougalling. Still, the audience is almost always overwhelmingly either following the program or considering it seriously. You can hear the ripple when a piece of advice is given out contradicting Dr. McDougalls ideas. I'm not sure how much that is conveyed in the online presentation. Certainly the speakers get questioned more thoroughly in the breaks and at the meals. It makes for some lively discussions.
I like to gather impressions at the end of the ASW about peoples favorite or most impressionable talks. It's usually all over the map. Even my wife and I rarely share the same thought about that.
The other thing about this events are just how addictive (like some food!) they are to the attendees. I am always curious if without the food and people interaction do the online presentations have the same effect? A lot of the buzz at the end of the event is hearing people exclaim that they "will see you at the next one."
Another note: This was the first event the Flamingo Hotel gave free wi-fi to everyone. It's about time! Of course, there is very little time to make use of it, except when you are heading back to the room rather spent.
While this one was excellent I still miss having Jeff do a presentation. It's quite a hole to go to one of these and not get your Jeff fix. Let's hope that isn't the case at the next one.
If you are going to the next one please don't wait till the last moment as you won't be able to get in. With Dr. Esselstyn AND T. Colin Campbell both speaking it will sell out rather quickly. With Dr. Esselstyns new data coming out and Dr. Campbells new book out they will be in very high demand. Both are magnetic speakers in our nutritional universe.
f1jim

[Adrienne]

Well I find the ASWs a little addictive! I never want to miss one because that could be the actual best ASW! But I always learn something and listen to the lectures over and over. I don't know how anyone there can sit for so long hour after hour and absorb it all. But if you miss a lecture then you have to pay to order it online (though I know there is a discount).

I agree about missing Jeff. However I can see why it may be better to have no Jeff than have him do the same talk over and over. I'm looking forward to a new talk from him!

At first I didn't like it that Dr McD went from 3 lectures down to 2 - a change I think started a year or 2 ago. But now I understand why. There are only so many things to talk about without sounding repetitive.

While I was not there in person, I have family members and friends who watch and we discuss it so there is interaction but it's just different.

A few questions for Jim or anyone else who was there:

1) If Dr McD knew Pam Peeke for 20 years then why did it take her so long to speak at an ASW? Was she always busy? Was Dr McD concerned she would talk about her dietary recommendations which appear to be far different from his?

I thought maybe someone would ask her about her diet recommendations at the end of one of her lectures but I guess its better that no one ignited a whole debate since she wasn't there to talk about diet.

2) Who is the women in the audience with the long dark hair who is at all the ASWs and always asks questions? This time during Doug Lisle's she said something like "I was fat Jony now I am slim Sue." She also asks good questions and participates a lot. Is she on the forum?

[f1jim]

I can help with one of your inquiries. The woman with the long hair is named Evelyn. She and her husband come from Texas to most all of the ASW's so we have come to be good friends. They are incredibly friendly people and are doing much to spread the message in Texas.
I can speculate that Pam Peeke is a very busy woman that is highly connected in the world of movers and shakers. She probably has trouble getting onto anyone's schedule.
f1jim

[Werner1950]

With Dr. Esselstyns new data coming out and Dr. Campbells new book out they will be in very high demand. Both are magnetic speakers in our nutritional universe.
f1jim

May I ask...
1. What is the theme this data coming out is going to speak to?

2. What is the title or topic of the new book?

Werner

[f1jim]

The data is followup data for 250 patients following Dr. Esselstyns diet program.
Dr, Campbells book is the new one called "Whole."
f1jim

[Werner1950]

The data is followup data for 250 patients following Dr. Esselstyns diet program.
Dr, Campbells book is the new one called "Whole."
f1jim

Ah yes. Have read that book already. Thanks.

[Jomako]

~nt~