Where's the Starch?

For those questions and discussions on the McDougall program that don’t seem to fit in any other forum.

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Where's the Starch?

Postby viv » Sat Jul 25, 2020 11:51 am

I just watched the new Code Blue documentary on Amazon. I really enjoyed it and I was impressed with the inspirational main character, Dr. Saray Stancic, who is living well with M.S. It's a great doc for people starting out on a wfpb lifestyle.

There were many scenes of foods being prepared and eaten. Everywhere you look there are people chopping and slicing and dicing and eating bowls of colorful chopped veggies and fruit. And I'm thinking, "Where's the starch?" Where is the food that makes this lifestyle easy and sustainable? Where are the bowls of rice and beans, potatoes, corn etc. Who wouldn't love a big plate of oven fries with ketchup? Seeing this doc for the first time may have people thinking "There is no way I could live off salads!"

We need Starch!

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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby VeggieSue » Sun Jul 26, 2020 5:28 am

For more starch based meals you have to look to the Esselstyn family. Both Dr. Esselstyn's Precent and Reverse Heart Disease and Rip's Engine 2 and Engine 2 Seven Day Rescue food plans are starch heavy. When you ask each member of the family what their favorite meal is, Dr. E immediately says beans & rice, Ann goes with potatoes and Rip says his sweet potato bowl. In lectures, Ann always credits Mary McDougall with teaching her how to cook this way, how to develop the recipes for this way of eating.

But I know what you mean. Dr. Stancic is one of those who appear in all those on-line seminars, same as Dr. Brooke Goldner (Goodbye Lupus) and her smoothies and raw salads, Cyrus and Robbie from Mastering Diabetes (Robbie is always filmed in front of shelves full of fruit), Dr. Fuhrman (Most of his diet plans have fruit for breakfast, big salad - add some nuts and beans - for lunch (The Salad Is Your Main Meal!), and - here's the starch - a bean based soup or stew for dinner).

I don't even look at those zillion-person seminars any more. Same people over and over again, many times giving the exact same talk, word for word, that they've been giving for years. And yes, when you look at their web sites or books, many have the same veggie-heavy meals with hardly a starch in sight. This year's new face is Dr. Will Bulsiewicz (Dr. B) and his book Fiber Fueled. All I know about his food plan is he likes oatmeal, smoothies, and fermented foods. Hey, at least he has *some* starch! And I found this on his Instagram page, so he must have some starch recipes in his book.
Image
Then again, maybe he just tosses them in a smoothie for all I know. I can't really find any recipes for his food plan aside from smoothies.
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby viv » Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:43 am

Like you, I have noticed many new players in WFPB movement recently, but more leaning towards Furhmann's Eat to Live style of eating. I have gone back to emphasizing The Starch Solution as the book for people to buy. We do eat differently from most WFPB people, our emphasis on starch is the key as Dr. McDougall has been saying for the last 40+ years. I have noticed more you tubers focusing on The Starch Solution and showing off their wonderful successes. So when talking about this way of life, I for one am reinforcing our basic message: Eat Starch!
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby Skip » Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:27 am

The movie cost $3.99 to rent. I watched the trailer and it seems be the same message: eat a whole food plant based diet and your health will improve. Is it really worth $3.99 to be told the same message time and time again? Maybe for someone on the fence it is but for someone committed to this lifestyle for a long time is there really anything new that is presented?
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby JeffN » Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:33 am

Skip wrote:The movie cost $3.99 to rent. I watched the trailer and it seems be the same message: eat a whole food plant based diet and your health will improve. Is it really worth $3.99 to be told the same message time and time again? Maybe for someone on the fence it is but for someone committed to this lifestyle for a long time is there really anything new that is presented?


What has changed since 1980?

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=56124&p=568240&#p567232

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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby Skip » Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:28 am

JeffN wrote:What has changed since 1980?


Not much! Pritikin had this thing figured out a long time ago as you well know.....
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby JeffN » Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:55 am

Skip wrote:
JeffN wrote:What has changed since 1980?


Not much! Pritikin had this thing figured out a long time ago as you well know.....


This was published by Nathan in 1988.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/pdf/nathan- ... rature.pdf

Might just be on the most comprehensive pieces on the whole issue

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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby Taggart » Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:36 am

What I can't figure out about Pritikin is their allowance for artificial sweetners. I'm not a nutritionist but every newspaper summary I've seen referring to a study over the last few years on these sweetners shows a negative, detrimental effect.

What I love about Pritikin is their total defense of the common potato, while a few WFPB doctors out there go in the opposite direction.

https://www.pritikin.com/eating-potatoe ... 100-pounds
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby f1jim » Sat Aug 01, 2020 8:04 am

Taggart, you answered your own question. The data in recent years wasn't available back in Pritikins time. He went with the data he had. The studies and data he used for compiling a diet didn't have much on artificial sweeteners. It takes decades to develop meaningful info on anything.
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby Taggart » Sat Aug 01, 2020 8:52 am

f1jim wrote:Taggart, you answered your own question. The data in recent years wasn't available back in Pritikins time. He went with the data he had. The studies and data he used for compiling a diet didn't have much on artificial sweeteners. It takes decades to develop meaningful info on anything.
f1jim


Sorry Jim, I should have been more explicit in my post. I wasn't referring to Nathan at all, but more to what's allowed in today's Pritikin Longevity Center when it comes to artificial sweetners.

https://www.pritikin.com/healthiest-die ... ating-plan

"Artificial Sweeteners

While artificial sweeteners have not been proven to aid weight loss, they may be of benefit to people with diabetes, elevated triglycerides, and those following the Pritikin Eating Plan to lose weight. Limit intake to no more than 10 to 12 packets per day. Sucralose (Splenda) and stevia (brand names include SweetLeaf and Truvia) appear to be the safest choices."

I've personally refrained from using artificial sweetners for the simple reason that the few I've tried in the distant past I just can't stand the taste.
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby f1jim » Sat Aug 01, 2020 9:16 am

I have always hated the taste of artificial sweeteners. They have all tasted so...."artificial."
The other thing about them is they make me very hungry. It's an odd irony.
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby Drew_ab » Sat Aug 01, 2020 8:58 pm

JeffN wrote:
Skip wrote:
JeffN wrote:What has changed since 1980?


Not much! Pritikin had this thing figured out a long time ago as you well know.....


This was published by Nathan in 1988.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/pdf/nathan- ... rature.pdf

Might just be on the most comprehensive pieces on the whole issue

In Health
Jeff


This is an absolute gem! Thanks for sharing this Jeff! I cannot believe I've never seen this before.
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby Skip » Mon Aug 03, 2020 9:38 pm

JeffN wrote:This was published by Nathan in 1988.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/pdf/nathan- ... rature.pdf


This was the original starch solution! Here's a quote from it:

"The complex carbohydrates
should provide 80% of the total caloric intake of your diet.
Starches are a main component of many of these foods and are
one of the most important sources of energy. They do not promote
weight gain and, in fact, because they provide much bulk for the
same amount of calories, they have a greater satiety effect. If
starches are laced with fatty sauces or fried in oils or blended
with simple carbohydrates, weight gain becomes easier, as there
will be more calories for less bulk. This is not understood by
many in the U.S. who are overweight and hold a 100 calorie potato
tuber responsible, but ignore the 300 calories of butter or sour
cream that goes over it."
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby Mom+Me » Tue Aug 04, 2020 3:38 pm

Very interesting conversations and links above; thanks everyone!

Here is what I just posted on another thread: I find that everyone responds to everything differently. Even though this health message has been around for quite some time, my family and friends respond to the message differently depending where they are in their life and who's story speaks to them more. So, I think the more documentaries like this there are, the better. People in our world are literally dying to hear the WFPB (preferably starch-based) no-oil message!
"Eat your heart out (of trouble)!"--Dr. John A. McDougall
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Re: Where's the Starch?

Postby JeffN » Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:50 am

JeffN wrote:
Skip wrote:
JeffN wrote:What has changed since 1980?


Not much! Pritikin had this thing figured out a long time ago as you well know.....


This was published by Nathan in 1988.

https://www.drmcdougall.com/pdf/nathan- ... rature.pdf

Might just be on the most comprehensive pieces on the whole issue

In Health
Jeff


If you have not taken the time to read the linked document, I would recommend doing so. It is not about whether you agree with or like the diet the current Pritikin Program recommends (which is not the same diet used in over 100 published studies documenting the effectiveness of their original reversal diet) but the content of the document, which is an over 500 page review of the medical literature.

As Viv pointed out, sadly, many of the new players don’t get the importance of starch. As Skip pointed out, the starch message goes back even further then we may think. As I said earlier, “might just be one of the most comprehensive pieces on the whole issue.“

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