I began this WOE last January 1, by adopting the regular McDougall plan.
I have been 100 % compliant since then. I am happy with the results, and plan to continue this way of eating. I suppose that’s all I really need to say, but if you want to read more, here’s the story.
But first, a disclaimer.
I’m not sure this story will be of general interest to everyone who participates in the McDougall Forums, but I do hope it may be helpful to anyone who lands here while searching for information about digestive problems such as acid reflux and IBS.
I must explain that this won’t be a story of successful weight loss. I know this issue is important to many people, but I had a different problem. In fact, a year ago I was thin and miserable.
Because I didn’t adopt the Starch Solution way of eating as a weight loss strategy, there are no before and after pictures to post. I look the same on the outside as I did a year ago. The same, but minus the harried look and anxious demeanor of a person who is sleep-deprived, depressed and unable to eat enough to maintain a healthy metabolism!
One year ago, I was in constant abdominal pain, suffered acid burning of the esophagus, and had lost my appetite for most foods. The pain kept me awake most nights, and I was too fatigued to drive or even think about anything complicated. I was losing weight that I couldn’t afford to lose, and could only eat small amounts of white rice, bananas, and a few other very bland foods. I had recently had gallbladder surgery, (which I now think could have been avoided). My symptoms actually got worse after the operation, and I was unable to resume my normal active lifestyle.
But by strictly adhering to the Starch Solution principles, I had complete reversal of all symptoms. I can eat as much and as often as I like. I have no desire to eat foods that are not in the plan. I don’t crave oils or animal foods at all.
I’ll freely admit that this was easier for me than for many people, and I can’t take any credit for having great will-power. There was no struggle at all. It was a profound relief to get rid of the last vestiges of the SAD diet that I was clinging to for the wrong reasons. Because of sympathy for animals, I was a vegetarian for most of my adult life. I had always hated meat, and I loathed eggs. I was lactose intolerant, but wasn’t aware of it until I was well into my forties. However, even when I understood this, I was afraid to give up dairy foods. Until 2006, I still ate yogurt and cottage cheese. These foods had always made me feel ill, but I ate them anyway. This was because I still believed the myth that osteoporosis was caused by a lack of dietary calcium, and that plant sources of calcium were not good enough. Beginning in 2006, I stopped eating milk products for five years because I couldn’t stand the GI symptoms any more. I was quite happy without it. But then in 2011 my primary health care clinic started telling me that I was raising my risk of bone fractures by avoiding milk, and that I ought to resume using it. I didn’t have any facts to argue against this, and was frightened into taking this “expert” advice. I now understand that this was fueling those persistent digestive problems, while giving me no benefits at all. Not ONE person in the health care professions had ever told me this. They could offer pills, invasive tests and surgery, but I didn't want more of that. I felt that there must be a common-sense answer to my problems, and that maybe it was something so obvious I couldn’t see it. It was like a missing part of a jigsaw puzzle that is hiding in plain sight. That’s why I am so grateful to Dr. McDougall, Colin Campbell and the other plant-based advocates for giving me a missing piece of a puzzle that had baffled me for so long.
The other part of the puzzle was learning the facts about vegetable oils. Over the years I had used less and less fat of any kind in my own cooking. This was because I felt better without it, and was able to avoid weight gain by reducing my fat consumption. However, in 2011 I read Harvard scientist Dr. Walter Willett’s book, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy. While much of the advice in that book was good – less dairy and no red meat- the author advocated a high consumption of olive oil. His argument was that olive oil was protective against heart disease, and that one could safely consume up to 40% of calories in the form of oil. He adhered to the “calories are all the same” theory, and said that so many fat calories don’t cause weight gain. Even though I had doubts, I dutifully began to add extra oil to my diet. As this was an apparently good authority, affiliated with a prestigious institution, I accepted that he must be right and I (and my poor distressed gut) must be wrong. I thought I had to endure the increase in GERD as a trade-off against the risk of heart disease. I wonder now how I could have been so gullible, but I hadn’t heard any contradictory evidence at that point. Once again, the answers I needed were in The Starch Solution, and also The China Study, and Dr. Esselstyn’s Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. These books became my holy trinity of dietary debunking!
In addition to immediate and (so far) permanent relief of all gastric symptoms, my cholesterol has gone down one hundred points, my weight is stable at a healthy BMI, and I haven’t had a cold or infection of any kind in the whole year of this WOE. I am also confident that I am doing the most I can to reduce my risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. My depression is gone, and my mental clarity came back.
That’s my story. I hope someone else who is seeking the missing link to good dietary health will come across this, and find it helpful.
Peace, love and starch to all!
I'm so glad that you feel better!
