Working with MDs
Our goal is to help you regain your health and reduce or eliminate your need to see doctors. Sick people see doctors, whereas people who live to be a hundred or older typically have histories of never seeing a doctor until they reach their nineties. This ideal is achieved by few in Western societies. The truth is that inexpensive lifestyle changes are often better than the drugs and surgery recommended by those in the business of Western medicine today. A primary care doctor should act as your advocate, helping you navigate through the overwhelming choices of treatments, tests and specialists. But where your health is concerned, make every effort to become a highly informed consumer.
Related Newsletter Articles
+-(articles open in a new window)
- June 2013: SB 380 Will Require Physicians to Learn about Human Nutrition
- May 2012: A Word to My Profession: Converting to a Starch-based Diet Medical Practice
- June 2011: The McDougall Promise: You Will Achieve Success at My 10-Day Residential Program
- February 2008: Intensive Therapy Means You Will Die Sooner with Good Looking Numbers
- November 2004: Sick People Take Medications – Healthy People Are Drug-Free
- October 2012: How to Protect Yourself from Abusive Medical Doctors
- July 2005: The Annual Physical Exam – A Ritual to Be Avoided
- December 2012: Avoid Annual Physical Exams
- October 2005: How to Choose a Primary Care Doctor — If You Must
- April 2006: Securing Respectful Medical Care
- August 2006: Taking Advantage of the Medical Specialist
- August 2007: Drug Companies Rig Research—I Don’t Know How to Prescribe
- A Personal Profile: by Jeff Novick, Registered Dietitian at the McDougall Program
- It Is Better to Be Hated than Ignored, When Change Is the Goal
- August 2012: Newsweek Magazine Warns about Modern Medicine
Print Article
Print With Images
Print Without Images
Recommended Articles
Mary's Mini-McDougall Diet® - An Overview
In the early 1980s, John and Mary went on an "all potato and greens" diet for 10 days—just for the experience. They ate hash browns for breakfast, baked potatoes and steamed frozen vegetables for lunch, and mashed potatoes with a salad for dinner. Yes, they were bored towards the end, but they each lost 10 pounds, felt great and continued their love for potatoes.
Mary's Mini-McDougall Diet® is a trimmed-down, fast-acting modification of the regular McDougall diet: it is starch-ba
Read more
Making the Change to a Healthy Lifestyle Work, Part 2 - Meal Planning
By Mary McDougall
Meal Planning
How Much Effort?
When planning home cooked meals for yourself and family, begin by deciding how much time you are willing to dedicate to them in the kitchen. If you have been the kind of cook who burns a slice of animal flesh on two sides and calls that dinner, then for you the healthy alternative is to microwave a potato or two and boil a bag of frozen vegetables. The nutrition derived from that offering will be excellent, and the flavor can be made plea
Read more
Gluten-Free Diets Are Harmful for the General Population (Except for One Percent)
Is gluten really that bad for you? The short answer: No. The longer answer is that gluten is only bad for those with Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.
The current gluten-free diet craze is unhealthy for those who do not need it. In search of weight loss or feeling better, millions of Americans risk becoming sicker and fatter by increasing their intake of gluten-free products.
A survey found that between July and August 2022, 27% of survey participants were gluten-free. Only 4% were com
Read more
Join the Conversation!
Have a question, a helpful tip, or a story from your journey? Add it below - your voice matters.