Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

So I was taking a walk this morning around my complex and I helped a neighbor lift a box into the trash. She said "be careful, it's heavy" so I was prepared for something really heavy and I was shocked at how light it was. This woman is only a couple of years older than me. So then we chatted and she asked me what I ate etc. as she noticed I had lost weight. So I gave the standard easy reply, "I eat a diet of potatoes, rice, corn and beans with fruits and veggies and I feel great." She gave me the standard reply (she's T2 diabetic), "Oh I can't eat potatoes because it raises my blood sugar."

So what's a standard, easy, one sentence reply I can give to this oft repeated comment?

Viv

"I used to think that way too until I read The Starch Solution"

"While potatoes raise blood sugar only in the very short term, meat, eggs and cheese raise blood sugars long term."

One sentence , well hope this is just one

" I did get diabetes when I started to eat the LCHF diet I didn't have it prior to that and it went away when I started to eat the mcdougall diet. "

"Lots of people have successfully reversed their diabetes by eating a diet high in relatively unrefined, relatively unprocessed carbohydrates, including potatoes, while eliminating the foods that cause diabetes, meat, dairy and eggs."

The response would probably be, "Oh, I couldn't do that. I like my meat."

So, maybe a better one line response would be, "When you are ready to get healthy, let me know."

How about these ones:

" I just answered the question about how I lost the weight and it wasn't meant as a health advice for any disease"

or " I respect your food choice but it seem to have worked well for me"

or " have you actually tried the mcdougall diet so you know it will raise your blood glucose?"

viv wrote:So what's a standard, easy, one sentence reply I can give to this oft repeated comment?

I don't think there is one. It's a matter of educating the person. Perhaps this might help:

"If you watch the movie "Forks over Knives" you may change your opinion about your diabetes and food choices"

yeah and this one : " do you want to read a book about it I can lend one out to you !"

How about:

"Well, keep doing what you're doing. It's clearly working out wonderfully for you!" (Insert double eye roll.)



Ha! Well, there are reasons why I'm not running a charm school!

In real life, I think foodaddict's offer of "would you like to read a book" is the nicest and gentlest! It seems inappropriate to challenge people or try to back them into a corner, or try to convince them that they don't know what the hell they're talking about. That just shuts them down.

If I picture someone questioning me on how I'm leading some area of my life (say, someone questioning me on my decision to abstain from health insurance) -- I would be extremely put off by someone asking me, "If you knew the stats on bankruptcy and the uninsured, you would change your mind about what you're doing". Or i would be put off by someone saying, "Have you actually priced out health insurance? You might realize that it's not as expensive as you think".

Anything that suggests that you know what's best for me, and I'm too stupid to lead my own life -- is a stinker. By contrast, anything that suggests that there may be more options than I am aware of, might feel nice. Or suggesting that when I am ready to try a different option, you may have some ideas for me -- that would feel fine to me too.

I mean, until I give some indication that I'm unhappy with my decision, then I'm not positive that there is a teachable moment there.

It is super difficult to convince people that the potato is healthy bec the culture is heavily influenced by the old Atkins diet, mainstream is against the potato, diabetes association is also against the potato.

Thanks for your very creative responses. I'm going to memorize a few so I can pull one out of the bag when needed. It's so frustrating when you consider we have the key to health and very few want to open the door!

Viv

Here is one more :

" you dont have to eat potatoes there are lots of other food choices with starches in it"

Unless someone actually knows how to cook potatoes at home while doing that properly, most likely it's a bad choice to be recommended since most people are getting so good at ruining a perfect fine food:

yes so an even better reply than my last one would be :

" The blood sugar wont rise if you dont add oil when you cook the potatoes "

I was sharing with someone who was diabetic that they would have to go vegan, and the response was it never would happen. I just sighed and said, will maybe when losing limb by limb you will change your mind. I have to say i shocked myself. But I have heard over and over diabetes is the worst disease to die from. And i have witnessed many amputees. One saying but all my numbers were fine. I think what is hard is they don't have support from their families let alone their communities. it is a family/social food and economical disease. As Dr. McDougall shares I may get a sore on my leg, but if a diabetic gets the same sore he/she can lose their leg. Doctors need to focus on the food of the diabetic not their blood. And if this was a woman I would ask her how her female organs are? As they are prime target for business as usual from a medical system run amuck. Then i would add the astronomer royal of the United Kingdom, Sir Martin Rees, explained our Earth will exist for an equivalent amount of time as it has taken us to go from one-celled organisms to human beings—in other words, we are only halfway through our evolution on this planet. So switching to WFPBNO should be no big deal. And they should go for it:)

Aloha, patty