Readers' Responses to the
"Low-fat Diet Failure" News
I
want to take this opportunity to share your responses to me
about the news story on Wednesday, February 8, 2006 about
the "failure of the low-fat diet" and my response to that
article (see my letter below).
Reader Responses
I just wanted to say my mother was one of the women
studied in the WHI program. I watched her go on the low
fat diet. Today she is 30 pounds over weight and now
diabetic. She is also dealing with high blood pressure
and her husband, who ate with her has had his second
heart attack. Some diet!!! I learned what not to eat
watching them. I have been vegan now for 4 months and my
husband is also vegan. I want to be independent of the
drugs that seem to go with "old age" in
America
when I am older and I want to be healthy and be able to
play with my grand children.
Sincerely, EJ
Thank you Dr. Mcdougall for your comments on this
Outrages information put out by the nationwide media. I
found their information insulting. JNA
Sorry to say, they interviewed one of the researchers
on NPR and he proclaimed that this study was proof that
dietary changes had no impact on one’s health and the
best thing was to ‘trust your doctor’ for your
untreatable conditions. The interviewer was completely
ignorant and just helped this clown sow confusion.
Thanks for your efforts to clarify the meaning of the
research.
Regards, DF
Yeah for Dr. McDougall. When I read this in the
newspaper, I could hear your words in my head: A Clear
Case Against Moderation!! D
Thank you Dr. McDougall once again. I known it takes
time and energy to respond to these foolish reports.
Even though 99% of the public who will read the
headlines of that report saying a low-fat diet doesn't
not make a difference, and use those headlines to keep
eating their fat based diet of animal products and say a
vegan is unhealthy, I know you are right because it
has been working for years and no report saying
differently can take that away. RM
ps I have been a vegan [a healthy one] since 1971, I
wish you and Mary the best.
This is just what the doctor ordered Thank you. K
This past week, when I heard the ridiculous news reports
you cite, I was HORRIFIED because I have BEEN (in the
past) one of those people who WANTED to hear such lies
so they can, with peace of mind and wild abandon,
continue eating all the "delicious"-but-deadly foods
they grew up with. Therefore, I KNOW VERY
WELL HOW MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WILL RESPOND to this
news......they will DITCH even the minimal efforts they
may have been expending to refrain from the DEADLIEST
foods, and shout, with glee, "what they heck" and go for
the Double Quarter Pounder with Bacon and Cheese! (et
al.)
This message from you, two days later, has made me cry,
because you are only ONE VOICE of very few which is
telling the TRUTH, and it hurts me so deeply to see
people (including friends and relatives) suffering and,
ultimately, dying, when they CAN change their lives (and
their "health destinies"!)......and how do I know the
truth?....from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, thanks to your
program. DGL
Thank you Dr. McDougall. We seem to be constantly
bombarded by erroneous information from questionable
studies within the medical/nutritional community. We
appreciate your clarification on the subject. Trust me,
this recent
WHI
study did not sway us from your regiment! RH
. . . an understanding and nicely articulated retort.
Thank you. L
"I have
just spent some time reading Dr. McDougall's articles
and comments. He is quite an admirable person, I do
believe. I plan to follow him more closely and I signed
up to receive his newsletter. I was relieved to read
that we need to do more to change our diets. I had the
impression when I read the article about low-fat diets
not being effective for preventing cancer and heart
disease that we were back to square one, that is, that
our diets are not going to help. I should have known
better…We have all but forgotten that good nutrition is
absolutely the most important ingredient in a healthy
lifestyle. We are indeed what we eat. What many of us
eat is literally making us sick and leading us to an
early grave. I am so glad that you told us about Dr.
McDougall. "
Ironically, the WHI study demonstrates that meat, milk,
and other animal foods promote serious diseases like
cancer, heart disease, and others. I think it is
reasonable to conclude from this study that a meat-based
diet--even a low fat one--promotes disease. As a second
point, fruits and vegetables may not protect a person
who eats a diet including killers, like meat and dairy.
For my classes and colleagues, I have reversed the title
to express the ironic facts: "Meat Diet Low in Fat Fails
to Protect Against Cancer, Heart Disease, and Other
Diseases." As Dr. Barnard has pointed out, the words
"low fat" cannot be applied to meat. I think the focus
of the media report should have been on the
contradiction of terms: "low-fat meat diet" and not
on "low fat diet." Hence, "Study Demonstrates
that Reduced-Fat Meat Diet Does not Reduce Risk of
Serious Diseases" and "Even Reduced-Fat Meat Diet
Promotes Serious Diseases."JY
Thank you!
That issue was very important to confront, debunk and
clarify to as many in the general public as have minds
able to understand the message.Keep up the seemingly
never-ending battle against those with sinister minds,
devious motives and defective analytical abilities! With
true appreciation. B
Good JOB, John. This may end up being a blessing
because the truth will have a bite. A
I am pleased with your immediate response to the
"results" of the WHI study. It is a shame that we "have
to live with" this media accepted proclamation about
diet. I have to admit that I had been one of those Baby
Boomers who had succumbed to the confusion of sound byte
reports of the news media regarding the latest "news"
about nutrition. My final conclusion has been to
radically cut back on the "News", a news diet so to
speak and look toward more in depth educational sources
- and to resist jumping to conclusions. I will turn 60
in October - and for the moment I am getting physically
younger as I recover from my regression into the
confusing maze of media hype. I had always been
moderate. So I have never been sickly, but found myself
sliding, becoming heavier - moving with less ease
again. It was a subtle and slow change. Luckily I had
the perspective of having tried your program, via book
and Television some years back and had had stunning
results. So, when I awoke from my slump I knew what to
do. Thanks Again for Being There - a voice of reason in
the crowd. BE
Thank you for your comments on the above report. My
parents were raised lacto-ovo vegetarians, I was raised
the same and our boys were raised the same. We inherited
the practice of replacing the meat part of the meal with
another protein dish.My wife grew up eating meat and
became lacto-ovo vegetarian when we married. One of the
principles of eating that we have learned from you is to
make our meals starch-centered instead. This has helped
us greatly in our concepts of healthy eating. Another is
the facts about fats in our diet.Keep up the good work,
D
I was so pleased to receive the e-mail regarding the WHI
Report. I knew you would have something to say about
it. The feedback from you is extremely valuable, even
though most of us are probably strong believers; it is
still good to hear from our leader. CT
I was about to write and ask whether you had plans to
critique the widespread drivel and incorrect inferences
surrounding the low-fat-diets-don't-work "revolutionary"
study published this week, so I was delighted to see
that you have already gone on the offensive to dispute
its obviously flawed assumptions .
Who paid for the New York Times to provide a (falsely
definitive) range of conventional opinions parsing some
of the study's methods but never really examining its
fundamentally wrong-headed premises about a "moderate"
diet? We'll never know. Not one "expert" in the NYT
piece raised the issue that the concept of a "moderate"
diet on which the study was based doomed it to reveal
nothing of value. Every medical commentator sidestepped
this proverbial elephant in the living room. There were
many methodological flaws in this study that no one has
so far discussed, either. I hope to see you speaking
out publicly against this huge waste of public funds and
resources. CM
As a reader (and recommender) of your books, Colin
Wilson's The China Study, and others, I KNEW
immediately that the recent report that "low-fat" diets
don't work to reduce chronic disease, were wrong. And
I suspected immediately that it was the definition of
"low-fat" that was the reason for the incorrect
conclusions. TV news was useless in getting to the
bottom of this…I am glad you sent out the email to your
subscribers. I realize that some of us may need
reassurance that they we on the right path. Thanks. JR
I was hoping that somebody would publish the true
background of this study. When I first saw the
headlines I told my husband "Well, it looks like the
meat and dairy industries have done another study to
manipulate us." Dr. Campbell, among others, must be
steaming! Unfortunately this study will adversely
affect millions who don't really search for the truth
but pattern their lives after headlines and the latest
fads.
JB
I have to say that while I do not follow the "McDougall
Plan" I do follow a low-fat plan and have found that I
can lose weight no other way. Not sure what kind of
"low fat" diet the people in the study was on but if it
was truly low fat they would lose much more than 1 pound
after 8 years of dieting. They could not possibly be
following a low-fat diet.
Just chiming in :) K
Thanks. I am on a vegetarian diet and feel ever so much
better and I know I would feel even better if I would
make it a mainly raw diet. Weight is no longer a
problem, nor is constipation. Keep up the good work of
sharing wherever and whenever possible!! By the way, I
am almost 84. regards. D
Dr. Campbell wrote about the exact study in his book,
The China Study. He said the data showed that the
control groups dietary consumption of animal based foods
actually increased - they just ate leaner sources of
animal based foods. Some of the other doctors might be
right though. I really do not think most people want the
truth. R
Thanks for your response to the
WHI
study, I was hoping you would put something out. I knew
there must have been some problem with it, so now I know
why. It wasn't actually a low-fat diet at all. The
damage that these blaring headlines will do is the
worst part. It's too bad you can't get a rebuttal out
there--on Oprah or something. DK
Thank you for fighting this battle, even though you must
often feel you are beating your head against the wall.
Only people with your outstanding credentials have any
chance at all of making inroads against the "politically
correct" American diet -- the diet of meat, cheese and
ice cream. The rest of us are merely cheerleaders for
the knowledgeable leaders like you.
So, do not get discouraged, please. As with all
sweeping social change, it will continue to be 1 step
forward and 2 steps back. But it WILL happen.
Eventually. Thanks for your efforts all these years.
You have a lot of cheerleaders on the sidelines. E
Dear Doctor:
Thank you for this response. Too bad it can't have the
same international exposure as the article did. When I
read the article in the paper I knew it was crap and was
going to send it to you but I figured you would get it
anyway. How can people be so stupid, Thanks, R
Thank you for sending this email -- I think all of us
who follow your diet were inundated by our friends and
relatives sending us this study telling us that we are
foolish in following a vegan low-fat diet. RD
Dr. McDougall,
After following and benefiting from your advice for the
past year, I have come to the conclusion that many of us
are too stupid, misinformed or arrogant to understand
what is going on here. Actually, my experience is that
many people don’t want to believe that they must change
the way they live drastically to see significant health
benefits. And what we are talking about is seen as
drastic change to most. All I get is “Oh I could never
eat like that, I love “my whatever,” For them, eating
vegan is too painful and chronic disease too painless.
It is so much easier to take medication especially when
doctors push it and someone else subsidizes it.
The WHI Report re-validates your principles. What is
sad, the rest of the world thinks it validates theirs.
What a tremendous waste of our money and resources. As
you know, it goes well beyond the $400 million because
of all the people who can now validated their current
dietary habits or will give up making an effort. Thanks
for all you do, you have changed my life. FM
Thank you for the comments. For a day I thought that I
had it all wrong and I should add fats etc. to my diet.
In reality, I've been happily eating very low fat for so
long that I don't like the taste of oil Yuck. And to
attend a pot-luck and see veggies swimming in fat is
very revolting. I've moved to other states three times
in the last 5 years and know that doctors do not
understand vegetarian or very low fat. It would be
helpful to have some directory of doctors who are aware
of good nutrition. The nurse practitioner in the clinic
I went to in my last state suggested that I eat 4-6 eggs
a day to get adequate protein and then take Lipitor to
balance the added fat! K
Dear Dr. McDougall,
I am just beginning your low fat vegan way of eating and
I was very discouraged to read the results of the
Women's Health Initiative (as it applied to women my
age) As a result of the information I've read in your
books and from your newsletter I questioned this report
but didn't know what kind of diet these women were on.
Now I know what these women were eating thanks to your
email and I'm truly grateful you took the time to write
about this report. So, I shall carry on McDougalling my
middle-aged morbidly obese and ailing body towards
health! Thank you for doing what you do. Sincerely, MP
Hi Dr. John,
Thanks so much for today's e-mail exposing the truth
behind these "alarming results" as published around the
nation this week. I saw the headlines while waiting for
my "veggie sandwich" to be prepared at a local sandwich
shop, and knew instinctively that what the headline
screamed could not be based on the whole story. I also
knew that, in time, you would have some helpful analysis
of what really happened. Behold, just a few days later,
here's the "rest of the story," as Paul Harvey says. A
huge "Thank you" for your tireless efforts to keep us
informed with the truth. MP
I have read your commentary on this meaningless study.
Even had the researchers not required that the study
group follow a vegetarian diet, the fact that the fat
intake was only 20 to 25% (at most) less than the
control group's indicated from the outset that nothing
significant would be found.
So of course nothing statistically significant was
proved, since there was no difference in types of foods
and very little difference between the proportion of fat
consumed by the two groups. The fact that healthier
foods were not part of the low-fat diet makes me
wonder. It is beyond my comprehension to understand why
they wasted all that money. NF
An excellent response to this ludicrous study. J
BRAVO !!!!!!!!!!
WELL SAID. Thank you sooooo much. I believe it 100%.
Keep up the good work. J
I was so ticked off by the shoddy reporting on this
issue I wrote to MSNBC myself. EP
Thanks so much, Dr. McDougall, for your e-mail regarding
the WHI Report. As an almost 62 year old female, I am
SO SICK of all these stupid reports that only seem to
want to encourage & assure the American people that we
can forever "eat, drink & be merry," and that those of
us who strive for a healthy diet/lifestyle are a bunch
of Birkenstock-wearing, weirdo hippies. I may be one,
but am proud of it! Regards from a McDougall fan, K
Thank you!
That issue was very important to confront, debunk and
clarify to as many in the general public as have minds
able to understand the message. Keep up the seemingly
never-ending battle against those with sinister minds,
devious motives and defective analytical abilities!
With true appreciation, B
Thanks to you Dr McDougall I could see right through the
study as I read the article. 25% calories from fat,
that's not low fat, give me a break. I've learned very
much from you and I'm happy to see your response so
soon. MC
This was great! I forwarded it to our staff, friends,
and even posted it to my class at Loma Linda in response
to someone posting WHI anonymously (I know who it was
though). My husband sent it to his dad to try and get
him to finally enroll in a McDougall program. (I won't
hold my breath!!!) Keep up the good work! C
Thank you and
God bless you for coming out about the misconceptions
with the WHI so-called study. What is wrong with the
scientific community? I am hornswoggled. Their results
can't be worth anything when the diet they used was not
low-low fat, as yours is. No wonder you are sad…Please
weigh in whenever there is something erroneous on the
news! I so want to hear your views and
interpretations on the spot. I so appreciate the emails
with these updates. I am so grateful and wish with all
my heart I could convince scoffing friends, obese West
Virginians, and their heavy, larded children who are too
cumbersome of body to play freely, that this is the only
way to go. GRP