[Photojess]

http://www.drmcdougall.com/med_hot_vegetable_fat.html

it's a long article....if you're short on time, go to the last section:

"The safest and healthiest way to get your EFA is in their natural packages of starches, vegetables, and fruits. Here they are found in the correct amounts in protected environments surrounded by vitamins, minerals, fibers, antioxidants, and other phytochemicals to make them balanced nutrition."

Flaxseed (as a whole seed) is one of the richest sources of alpha linolenic acid and is also a good source of soluble fiber. Blood sugar was also decreased. Even though the benefits of EFA as oils on cancer growth are questionable, the lignans present in flaxseed seem to have an antitumor effect when fed at the early stages of cancer promotion (Nutr Cancer 26:159, 1996). Plant foods are the only source of phytoestrogens, like isoflavones, coumestans, and lignans, that are believed to be beneficial for many problems, including menopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, cancer, and heart disease (Annu Rev Nutr 17:353, 1997). "

there's more, I just took out the really interesting parts.

then two more article from him also: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/aug/oils.htm and http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2008nl/dec/fat.htm

 

[papayamon]

i'm a huge fan of dr. mcd!

 

[Photojess]

i know! I was wondering if you were going to see this. hope Nomad and Lee Rogers reads it too. Wish the article title name was different...it's a little opposite the real meaning!

 

[nomad888]

I have actually been slowly exploring this article since you posted it, but when it comes to material like this I'm not exactly a speed reader. As a vegetarian it would be very tempting to simply allow myself to take the word of a doc who happens to support ideas that are clearly pro-vegetarian, but for the sake of accuracy I'd rather explore it piece by piece, double checking all named resources and references in the process. Obviously, this can be tedious

Unfortunately I've been working a lot of extra hours this week, and my phone keeps running out of battery while I'm trying to research during breaks lol.

Now at this point I'm pretty much convinced that I need to make some significant changes to my diet.

After skimming through this article, though at a glance the science seems to make sense, there are some "real life" realities that are holding me back from being able to just jump on it. There are a lot of very, very healthy people around the world, some of them in that centenarian study I mentioned, that consume(d) large amounts of fish, olive oil, and some of the other potential evils that seemed to form the basis of the portions of the article that make it unique compared to the standard. Obviously fish is a non-issue for me personally, so I won't put too much effort into researching it, but olive oil is not, and I'm not quite satisfied with what little research he presented in regards to it and other similar sources of fats.

Also, he mentioned problems with heating oil and then referenced China, stating that smoking caused only a small portion of their high cancer rate, and not really paying too much attention to China's pollution issues either. Having spent 3 years living in China, I am somewhat skeptical of this. Yes, it is true that people in China have a tendency to cook the food until the ceiling turns black. I doubt this fact is without health consequences, but I think he underestimates the effects of both the smoking rate and the heavy pollution. I swear I started to get the feeling that nearly every male above the age of 60, especially in the countryside where, incidentally, much of the cooking is done in an open semi-outside area not directly inside the house (indoor pollution?), smoked like a chimney and was suffering from emphysema or dying from lung cancer. Even a westerner who doesn't smoke and doesn't regularly visit Chinese homes to consume their overcooked food will, after spending a few days in a big city like Shanghai, develop something similar to smoker's cough. I can only guess that this is because of the pollution, and many of the more factory dense cities, or worse the cities near a coal plant (most of China's energy comes from coal), are much, much worse in regards to pollution than Shanghai.

Now my few issues with it so far does not necessarily discredit the rest by any means. Like I said, much of does indeed seem to make sense. However, it does give me reason to be extremely thorough as I slowly go through the article and take it piece by piece. I'll keep you updated

 

[Photojess]

I totally understand.....I just wanted you to read it and get your thoughts. I wouldn't have known anything about those issues you bring up in China though. See, you have first hand experience.the good thing about Esselstyne, McDougall, Furhman,and Barnard (from PCRM), is that they all are on the same page with small differences. No one is out on a limb by themselves, looking like some radical quack at least.

 

[LeeRogers]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Photojess

i know! I was wondering if you were going to see this. hope Nomad and Lee Rogers reads it too. Wish the article title name was different...it's a little opposite the real meaning!

Yep, I'm in. Fan of McDougall as well.

 

[LeeRogers]

Jess, the article is a little dated -- references are more than 10-years old. He's a little biased towards very low fat diets, but well-constructed Mediterranean type diets seem to be healthy as well - veg types might be even better.

 

[Photojess]

I was just leafing through Furhman's Eat to Live at B+N tonight....again, and they all agree, that even with the Mediterranean diet, that the encouraged use of too much olive oil is devoid of the micronutrients along with the concentrated calories in the oil, which is not conducive to heart health or weight loss.

I think I found that original article on a Fb post McDougall made. I'm sure he throws out all of his work, a little at a time, so it gets brought to the forefront maybe to new followers. I'm sure he doesn't want it to be forgotten or missed/never looked at.

I am a total believer in the low fat whole foods plant based diet for everyone, besides the vegan aspect for myself

****Great news is, my other sister has been 5 days following a vegan based whole food diet, and is already in less knee pain, and has lost 3-5 pounds this week! She is sold on it already, is drinking green smoothies, and is doing it mainly for the squamous cell carcinoma cancer diagnosis she got. I got her on board....now on to my retired dairy farmer sister......she's the tough one though. If anything, she would be one to convert for the diet benefits only, not for AR at all.