Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Mark Cooper wrote:

Starflower wrote:I have a question. I see that tortillas are not allowed for MWL because of calorie density. I use them in soups and stews sometimes as the starch. They get pretty waterlogged , so they become less calorie dense. Is that a compliant use, or should I choose a different starch?

For MWL it would be recommended to choose one of the adherent starches instead of tortillas. Tortillas would fall under the seventh item from the Checklist:

7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.

I wouldn't imagine using tortillas the way you describe would be a huge problem, but in adhering to the letter and spirit of the MWL 10-Point Checklist I would eliminate them, or replace with something like oats, brown rice, millet, potatoes, &c.

JeffN wrote:I get that many of us want some concise way of explaining what we do, the problem is, there is no concise answer that describes what we do.

I even question why we want a label or why we have to have these discussions on what we eat at all. To do so is actually only a modern "luxury" in that we can pick and choose the foods we eat (and discuss and debate them). For most of our existence, we ate what we can find from what was available in our area. Granted, our modern toxic food environment has made the topic of value because there is so much CRAP out there but CRAP is not really food. Also, the label often acts as a "badge of honor" or as Doug would say, a modern signal or status symbol. And social media has turned a discussion that may have some value, into a circus.

No, I am not a fan of using the terms vegan (at all), WFPB, Plant Strong/Based/Perfect, Starch based, etc etc etc. The reason is, every single label you can come up with will always fall short and can be misinterpreted and bastardized. You can see it now with the term plant-based as it is has become a huge marketing term and being misused and misrepresented and appears all over junk-food. Same as with vegan but there is a trend away from the word vegan in the industry because of all the negative baggage that comes with it.

Plant-based describes a dietary pattern, diet, meal or a recipe where the majority of the calories in the diet, meal, or recipe comes from plants. That alone doesn't make it healthy. Also, if it is 100% plants, it is not plant-based, it is plants or plant-exclusive. A carrot is not plant-based. It is a plant. A meal that is 80% plants, is plant-based, but it doesn't mean it is healthy. For the record, the current American diet is "plant-based" as about 70% of the calories in it comes from plants, though mostly in the form of highly processed, extracted, refined, food products. But, they are from plants.

So is the issue "plants" or "plant-based' or much more then that?

Now, on occasion you may see me use one of the above terms here in this forums (though almost never vegan), as it is a simple way of using one word instead of 20 while communicating to someone I know who understands this. However, more often than not, I will respond to someone trying to learn this by saying, follow the recommended principles and guidelines.

This actually came up in the 10-Day program we just finished and we had a participant who kept asking what would be the best label.

After a few days I said, here it is, (which is really a compilation of my 5 principles)....

"I eat a diet that is based predominately on a variety of unprocessed and/or minimally processed fruits, vegetables, starchy vegetables, roots/tuber, intact whole grains and legumes that is lower in calorie density, fat and saturated fat and contains little to no added salt, sugar or oils and adapted to my unique personal situation."

Of course, that only describes the food and not the rest of the "lifestyle" factors that go along with it like not smoking, not drinking, getting adequate activity/exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, getting adequate rest/relaxation, adequate sleep and maintaining emotional poise and a positive outlook.

See the problem?

May years back, a client told me the way they answered the question which I thought was great. When asked the question he said, "there is no simple answer, but if you would really like to know, let's make some time in the next few days where we could sit down and spend an hour or so together, and I would be glad to discuss it with you."

He said, no one ever took him up on the offer.

When the first McDougall book came out, he called it a "health supporting" diet which I thought was great. Of course, it left out the rest of the lifestyle. And, today, everyone thinks their diet is health supporting.

If you were to ask me today, I would say, "I follow a healthy diet and lifestyle." Period.

It is just not a conversation I have, nor is it one I recommend others have.

As a professional in the field, I use my principles & guidelines and apply them to the individual.