Tortillas bread pasta and pizza

[exercise_guru]

I am transitioning my entire family to Mcdougal. The dairy and cheese I know how to swap or eliminate.
Honestly I am not sure the mcdougal rules for tortilla ,bread, pasta, and pizza. These are easy foods for me to build family meals around. We are not focusing on weight loss as a family.


Can anyone give me an orientation on the recommendations for these products and criteria in choosing them?

Also what about kids servings of nuts,nut butters, and dried fruit?

[Mark Cooper]

Here are a couple of links where Dr. McDougall covers these topics:

For various ages of children and the McDougall program https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2012nl/sep/children.htm

Regarding grains and breads, baked goods, &c https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2008nl/jan/grains.htm

Quoting from the above article:

Can I Eat Flour Products, Like in Bread?

Although cereal grains at the farm gate are very nutritious, the processing and refining steps that follow usually turn them into packaged products that are now stripped of their nutrients (fiber, vitamins, and minerals) and loaded with salt, oils, sugars, dairy- derivitives, and chemicals. Whereas, whole grains reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and obesity, that box of sugar puffs in your pantry may be doing just the opposite. In general, the more original and unadulterated the grain, the better for you.



I am often asked if there is any harm in using a home-bread-machine to make bread—after all, nothing is added or removed in the processing. For most people whole grain breads are an excellent choice, but it is not the same as eating whole grains. Beating the whole grain more than 1000 times with the whirling steel blade of the bread machine converts the kernel into a powder, known as flour. The intact cell wall of the kernel has been destroyed and now the digestive enzymes (amylase) easily digest the inner nutrients. In addition, the flour has a much larger surface area to volume ratio than did the whole grain, making digestion and absorption much more rapid. For you this physical change may translate into easier weight gain, and higher blood levels of glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol. The amount of insulin released by the pancreas into the blood is also increased as grains are processed from whole grains to cracked grains to coarse flour to fine flour.23 More insulin can mean more weight gain, and maybe, more risk of diabetes and heart disease. However, compared to animal-foods, free-oils, and plant-parts processed beyond recognition, whole wheat bread is definitely health food.

And here is Jeff on Pasta (specifically regarding MWL) https://www.drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=58681&hilit=whole+wheat+pasta+Jeff&start=75#p591201

There have been a few (not many) changes to the program over the years, as with recommended supplements for heart disease, probiotics, etc. Yes, you can refer back to the newsletter on supplements but it does not represent our current position. Several things have changed since the original MWL book has come out and since the MWL newsletter which updated the book.

If you have questions about what we are doing at the program right now (and/or about what I have said or not), the best thing to do is to ask me. I am right here.

We do allow pasta, but like tortilla's, it is one of those very rare "gray' areas on the MWL.

The original MWL guidelines said "No flour products," however, from the beginning, corn tortilla's (made from corn flour) have been allowed in spite of the fact that they have a calorie density of around 1000 cal/lb. Ironically, I have never recommended them as part of my weight loss guidelines because of the calorie density. The same for puffed cereals.

On the other hand, whole grain pasta, also a flour product, was not part of the original MWL program in spite of the calorie density of only around 550-600, almost half of corn tortilla's. However, for 30 years of my career, (including 10 years at overseeing the food and nutrition at Pritikin), I have always allowed WG pasta and people successfully lost weight. In the same study that showed the potato to be the highest in satiety per calorie, whole grain pasta was right behind it (and oatmeal) and above brown rice.

Some say they overeat on it and if you find that to be true for you, then just leave it out, but then again, some say they overeat on brown rice, so, if so, just leave it out.

Here is a list of McDougall compliant Breads https://www.drmcdougall.com/health/education/free-mcdougall-program/canned-packaged-foods/low-fat-foods/breads/

Here is a link to guidelines for choosing store bought items (it is a PDF postcard) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8GF4phQYaYTSUtlRDczS0RReDQ/view?usp=sharing

Hope that is helpful!

[exercise_guru]

Thank you so much for your response. Do you think that people on this forum will be upset if I post my family meals ( in my journal log) for my kiddos that contain

Bread ( its sprouted, egg free, dairy free, and has just a tiny bit of oil)
Tortillas ( I just choose what they have now because what is going in the tortilla is more important to me right now, but no eggs or dairy just a bit of oil)
homemade muffins ( I use the whole grain recipes and make them homemade)
Bagels ( dairy free, egg free, just a small amount of oil)
Pasta ( I use Veggie pasta or whole grain)
Rice White and Brown and sometimes red or black.

My family can easily handle the transition if I feed them these things with Mcdougal friendly toppings but its going to be a steep climb if I can't. I don't know how friendly this board is and I don't want to get flamed for feeding my kids these foods if they are not allowed.

[Lyndzie]

Of course you can write about what you are feeding your family! A journal is just that, a place for you to write about what is going on in your world. Target and Walmart just started selling Dave’s Killer Bread, and my oldest just tried it today and gave it two thumbs up (it’s a bit pricy, though). Breads and pastas are totally permitted. Whole grain is best, of course, but it can take a while to transition the littles sometimes (grown ups, too). My husband will only eat white rice, and that is a battle not worth fighting. Moving them in a healthier direction is what it’s all about!