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"Listen to your body’s wake up calls"
 When
I was 40 years old (I am now 68) I was very surprised to
discover during an annual physical that I had borderline
hypertension and elevated cholesterol. At the time I felt that I
was eating a good diet which provided lots of animal protein,
which I assumed was necessary for my rigorous exercise program
(bodybuilding and running regularly since age 16). This is the
way my parents and grandparents ate, and if it was good enough
for them, it must be good enough for me. I wondered, "How could
I possibly have elevated cholesterol and hypertension with such
a "healthy" diet and such a strenuous exercise program?"
For breakfast I typically ate two or three scrambled eggs
with a few strips of bacon, toast with butter, and a quart of
whole milk. Lunch might consist of two roast beef sandwiches
smothered in mayonnaise. And for dinner I'd eat chicken or beef
with mashed potatoes drowned in greasy gravy—once in a while I'd
add a vegetable. And of course, dinner was not complete without
ice cream and cake.
I came to learn that the way my family ate was far from
healthy. I grew up in a middle-class family living about 30
miles from Philadelphia. My parents smoked two to three packs of
cigarettes a day and drank alcohol regularly. Dad was a
meat-and-potatoes man and loved his beef cooked rare with none
of the peripheral fat cut away. In addition to having a penchant
for animal fat, he also loved to smother his food with salt. He
had such a liking for the taste of sodium that he would put salt
in his beer. It's no wonder he was plagued with hypertension
most of his short adult life before dying at age 61. My
grandfather on my father's side also had a problem with the
hypertension and that was the cause of his demise at the age of
61. Because my mother never went to the doctor, I don't know
what maladies affected her, but we suspect she had the
beginnings of osteoporosis and heart disease. A massive stroke
took her life at age 71.
At the time of my physical, my cholesterol was 230 mg/dL and
my blood pressure was around 180/95 mmHg. My doctor seemed to be
as surprised as I was and could only attribute these problems to
heredity. I asked him if my diet could be affecting my blood
pressure and cholesterol, but he didn't think so. He did,
however, feel confident that drugs would take care of my
problems. (I chose not to take the cholesterol-lowering drug,
but did start the blood pressure pills.)
A couple of weeks after the physical, I was invited to attend
a lecture in my hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii, where a young
doctor was speaking about how to be healthy through diet and
moderate exercise. That doctor was John McDougall. I was struck
by his discussion about the geographic distribution of many
diseases throughout the world, and how the diseases of our
western world were, and still are, rare in developing nations
where rich, fatty foods are not readily available. I was so
impressed with the research-based information that Dr. McDougall
presented that I promised myself I would attend the rest of the
lectures in the series. I began to make the necessary changes in
my diet and give my body every possible chance to be healthy.
Throughout the lectures I learned that there were indeed ways
to treat high blood pressure and high cholesterol with a healthy
diet and without drugs. I read the McDougalls' first
publication; a ring-bound recipe book called Making the Change,
and followed their advice completely. During a visit to his
medical office he explained to me that if I followed his diet, I
would steadily lose weight until I reached the level that was
natural for my frame and body type. And that is exactly what
happened. When I made the dietary changes, my 5'5" frame was
carrying a pudgy 165 pounds. At the end of the first month on
the diet, I had lost eight pounds and, surprisingly, never left
the dining room table wanting more food. My stomach was full, my
appetite was sated, and my body was becoming lean and healthy.
As for my own family, my wife was not interested in making a
dietary change, nor were my two teenage children, although they
were interested in the concept. Thankfully, my kids adopted much
of the McDougall diet after they got married and had children of
their own. Most of my meals now are centered around vegetable
stews, lentil stews, brown rice, chili, potatoes, Portuguese
bean soup (without meat or oil), or just a bowl of frozen
vegetables with McDougall's pasta sauce. All my dishes come from
the McDougall cookbooks. Making the dietary change was not
difficult for me since I believed in the program from the
beginning, and that it would reduce the chances of me
contracting many of the health problems that afflict westerners.
It took me about two months for my palate to adjust to all the
natural foods. Now the only time I'm in danger of backsliding is
when I'm hungry and there is no McDougall food a t hand.
After losing about 20 pounds, I expressed concern to Dr.
McDougall that if I continued to lose weight at this rate (while
eating all I wanted), I would be nothing but skin and bones. Dr.
McDougall assured me that I would continue to lose unnecessary
pounds until I reached the weight that nature had intended for
me. In approximately six months, when I reached 125 pounds, I
stopped losing weight, even though I continued to eat until I
was full at each meal. That was in 1980, and I've maintained
this weight ever since while continuing to eat according to the
McDougall Plan. As Dr. McDougall expected, my high blood
pressure dropped to normal, as did my cholesterol, after about
two to three months.
I am now 68 years old and am in excellent health. I take no
drugs, vitamins, nor supplements. In addition to losing weight,
and lowering my blood pressure and cholesterol, I have also
gained much more energy and I am less susceptibility to colds,
flu, and other common maladies. I bicycle 70 miles a week, play
tennis twice a week, and work out with light weights every other
day.
Many of my peers who continue to eat the typical western,
high-fat, low-fiber diet, and get little or no exercise, show
the symptoms of an unhealthy lifestyle, such as heart disease,
diabetes, hypertension, and breast and colon cancers. They are
always impressed when they see what activities I'm involved in,
observe my lean and muscular body, and learn that I don't take
any drugs or supplements. They begin to realize that there must
be something to a healthy diet and lifestyle.
That serendipitous invitation to attend Dr. McDougall's
lecture 27 years ago had a profound and positive effect on my
health and wellbeing. I plan on continuing the McDougall diet so
that I will have many more years to do the things I love.
Charles Alexander
Kailua, Hawaii
Dr. McDougall's Comments The McDougall Program is
for people interested in a lifetime of good health and an
outstanding personal appearance, as Charles Alexander clearly
demonstrates. He has never looked back, nor does anyone else who
really learns and honestly embraces the Program. You will not
find followers of the McDougall philosophy searching the
tabloids for the next miracle weight loss diet or waiting for a
pharmaceutical discovery that lets them gorge themselves while
remaining trim. Why would they waste their time? They have
already found the answer in a simple meal plan. "The truth
will set you free." It really will. Just as Charles was set free
from a family history condemning him to an early death from
hypertension and heart disease. Without any conscious thought,
Charles trimmed down to a slim body weight and has maintained
his muscular appearance for more than a quarter century. And
without any pills his body adjusted to a healthy blood pressure
and cholesterol. He is free—disease-free. Learning the
principles of the McDougall diet does not appear to most people
to be as easy as counting calories or eating only
low-carbohydrate foods (meat, eggs, and cheese). What they fail
to consider is with our diet you don’t suffer the constant pains
of hunger from limiting portions and the expected sicknesses
(constipation, fatigue, headaches, oily skin, bone loss, kidney
stones, etc.) from inadequate carbohydrates, and way too much
fat and protein. Because people following our program fill up
with delicious foods and look and feel great, they remain happy
for a long lifetime. Learning valuable skills takes some
effort—like learning to properly speak a foreign language, be a
nurse, or fly an airplane. But the return for the student in
each case is well worth all of the effort. Learning proper
eating is no different—once learned, the advantages are for
life. Charles has reaped the benefits every day for the past 27
years—and so have thousands of others. I (Dr. McDougall) have
known the reason most people are chronically ill and how to cure
them since 1977 (for 30 years). But I still have not fully
figured out how to get most people to give up their old habits
and set themselves free. We (Mary and I) try new methods at
every opportunity. Together, we have written books, given
lectures, held seminars, and taken people to exotic destinations
(like Costa Rica). The most
effective tool we have found is 10 days of intensive education
and medical care at our clinic in Santa
Rosa, California. I estimate over 90% of participants leave
our clinic permanently changed—off medications, and in control
of their health and personal appearance. Tens of thousands of
people who are not able to take advantage of our live-in
experience have been able to change themselves by using the free
information on our web site. For a small investment our latest
creations provide some of the most cost-effective and practical
help. These two DVDs, McDougall Made
Easy and McDougall Made
Irresistible, demonstrate more than 34 delicious and
simple-to-make meals prepared by Mary in her kitchen. For
everyday living, you need only one selection for breakfast and
one for lunch and a couple for dinner. Find four to six recipes
you like from this entertaining collection and eat them over and
over again. Now how easy is that? This is unquestionably a small
price to pay t o have the same degree of control over your life
that Charles and thousands of others have after learning the
McDougall Program.
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