No: 16 in a series of articles - John McDougall M.D. ...
John McDougall M.D. first came to my attention some 15 years or so ago when I briefly looked into establishing a better diet for myself. I purchased his cassette tape series “The McDougall Program – 12 Days to Dynamic Health”. I was not worried about prostate cancer at that time but perhaps I should have been. Dr. McDougall tapes encouraging a vegetarian, dairy free diet fell on deaf ears as such advice does with many men and to their detriment.
Understanding as I do now the benefits of such a diet, along with other now well established health improving measures such as sufficient exercise, moderate alcohol consumption etc., it is realistic to purport that I may not have gotten prostate cancer at all.
The argument, perhaps excuse, is that we are omnivores and we were during our evolving history but we have long since ceased to be hunter/gatherers and the quality of our food, particularly meat, has declined in its nutritional value and increased in its toxicity. And who can deny that three cheese, barbecued chicken pizza tastes good! While it is hard or even impossible to find “organic” meats, grass fed with no growth hormones or other “little helpers”, organic vegetables are getting easier to find, particularly at farmers markets, Whole Foods and other similar retail outlets. Toxicity is one of the most misunderstood aspects of recovering from prostate cancer, yet tests show a tremendous overload on the immune system of PC patients, much of which comes from food.
John McDougall M.D. has been studying, writing and "speaking out" about the effects of nutrition on disease for over 30 years. Dr. McDougall believes that people should look, feel great and enjoy optimal health for a lifetime. Unfortunately, many people compromise their health unknowingly (and quite often knowingly) through poor dietary habits.
Dr. McDougall is the founder and medical director of the nationally renowned McDougall Program, a ten-day, residential program located at a luxury resort in Santa Rosa, CA -- a place where medical miracles occur through proper diet and lifestyle changes. Dr. McDougall has cared for thousands of patients over almost 3 decades of medical practice and has run a highly successful live-in program for more than 17 years. He has developed a nourishing , low-fat, starch-based diet that not only promotes a broad range of dramatic and lasting health benefits such as weight (fat) loss, but most importantly can also reverse serious illness, such as heart disease, without drugs.
Many people with perfectly good intentions start out at such retreats and embrace a new diet and exercise program with obvious gusto, unfortunately all too often we see them fall off the wagon and revert to their previously harmful lifestyle. Dr. McDougall has experienced a higher retention percentage than most and this speaks volumes as to his program and his way of teaching. His contribution to my documentary on Alternative Treatments for Prostate Cancer reinforced with logic and clinical experience what many teach – that diet can be a major contributing factor to recovery from many chronic diseases including prostate cancer.