Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Just curious as to what results you've had with Depression/ anxiety, overall energy levels. The reason i ask is because any diet plan you can lose weight by calorie restriction or lower certain numbers by simply losing weight, but how one feels mentally is the biggest test of a diets effectiveness imo

The stress level drops dramatically when the chest pains go away! It also makes the Dr. visits a whole lot more tolerable. I used to have high anxiety about the speech I was going to get from my doctor. Now I actually look forward to the visit. We now have time to chat about something other than some promise I was going to give her that I knew I wasn't going to keep!
f1jim

Yeah i'd imagine. The thing i wonder which would be bad is getting your physical health to as good as it can get and still havn't the issues that so many people have like Depression/ Anxiety both of which can be debilitating. I've had Chronic Fatigue ever since i was 15 (23 now)when i got mono and have had problems ever since. Just seems like this is harder then say hitting a certain number on a scale or a certain number on a lab test. That's just a matter of eatting what your supposed to. Anyone with really bad fatigue or other issues like that?

Teresa Rodriguez' Star McDougaller story addresses some of the mental health issues that McDougalling helped her overcome.

The most effective mood adjuster for me seems to be exercise. On the days that I ride my bike to work, I notice I seem to be in a pleasant, buoyant mood. Often on other days I get bored and wish I were elsewhere.

Of course, my exercise is enhanced (or hindered) by the fuel I give myself. So the better the fuel, the more and better I can exercise, and the happier my mood.

Thanks, great story

I totally agree with Tom on the exercise. It really, really helps with the mood and has been the best thing for me personally. I know you get a lot of exercise, Symphony, so you are doing well there!

Something else to consider is the essential amino acid tryptophan. This is used by the body to make seratonin which is important in improving and regulating mood. You need plenty of B vitamins to make abundant seratonin, also. Lots of carbs help, so you are covered with McDougall there.

Some good veg*n sources of tryptophan are bananas, brown rice, lentils and other legumes, some nuts and seeds such as sunflower, sesame and cashews. You know nuts are very calorie-dense so you don't want to overdo them.

How old are you if you don't mind me asking? DId things keep getting better after the month or did it just kinda switch on and stay the same? Have you feel off at all? If so did you notice any problems when doing so?

Hi, Symphony. I have an interest in this as well, not as much the diet's effect on energy levels, but on feelings of wellbeing (which I think often translates into more energy, anyway). I had collected a bunch of quotations from members' posts here on that (I'll be adding Vibrant's note to my collection , and I'm copying them in here for you.

((I hope it's okay with the OPs to post them here, since they're all from posts these users already put on the forum somewhere; somebody please call me on it if I'm breaching etiquette here.)):

Gailf: I also experienced a sense of calmness and well being which I was sure was a result of the diet (what was not to like about that!)

Betty from Costa Rica trip: [when she switched from making vegetables the base of her diet to starches] She even told me of a new sense of calm that had settled over her. By the simple mind change of putting starch at the center of her diet she has gained control of her life.

Nettie: One thing I love about the McDougall program is the feeling of well-being I get when I'm 100% faithful. I love the mental clarity and serenity that come with this way of eating.

dlb: I eat 4 starch centered meals a day …I added a starch to both [breakfast and lunch] and now I'm doing great. I also do notice that I am more balanced emotionally now.

Mommylut: A sense of peace has come over me ...I have been following MWL as much as possible. fulenn: I also find that I am more peaceful after changing my diet. I am a much more 'centered' person, for lack of a better word.

HTH. Pam

I am two weeks into the diet.

Good sleep is one important aspect of mental health, imo. And, I can already tell that I am dropping into a deeper sleep. I "black out" my four bedroom windows, too, as well as unhang our phone. However, I was doing the dark room thing for a while when I noticed the deeper sleep the past week or so. I am going to sleep easier, also.

It's weird, when i was on the 811 diet, which is just fruits and veggies all raw i started sleeping so deep within a week. For some reason it didn't happen for the 3 months on the mcdougall plan. I probably need to drop the fat from 10 down to 5 like it was on 811

I used to be on the Hallelujah Acres plan with juicing and supposedly 70 percent raw (I had a hard time doing it, actually), so that sounds similar.

I just stayed too hungry and had mineral imbalances and blood sugar issues.

You don't have those issues? Or, on the McDougall plan can you eat enough starches to compensate? I am just a little leary of the high raw food type diets because I feel like they may be hard on the endocrine system. And difficulty on the endocrine system is not good for mental situations,kwim?

Just a thought....

You know, really fast in week one I had a sleeping blip and couldn't go to sleep one night and then it all evened out. Since it took you 3 months to sleep better, could it have been a healing/cleansing crisis and so therefore a good thing? Though I haven't faced it with sleep, I am having the same thing with chronic foot pain, back pain, and tiredness. I am really struggling with all three and so I'm just trying to hang in there because I hope it is a healing crisis that will with time come around.

Just another thought.....

It's not a high stress diet, if you don't make it that. I keep things simple. There is a list of what you can eat, and one of what you can't. Not trying to get fancy helps.

The exercise is a major part of my feeling so positive mentally. Also the sense of accomplishment, and not being stressed, depress, guilty while doing it. It's a peaceful way to spend a lifetime.

I was living with RA and fibromyalgia and the fatigue and drugs and mind fog and all that other nasty crap that goes with it. It was the RA specialist visit that brought me to McDougall and kicked me in the arse to try it out. (No he didn't suggest I try to regain my health, he suggested I step up to the next level of treatment. I was frightened.)

I weighed almost 200 pounds and everything always hurt. I took etodolac, tylenol, celebrex, codeine, diovan and diuretics for BP, and a nightly dose of zopiclone to knock me out. Vitamins, supplements, decongestants, laxatives, fibre. Martinis. Ick. Chemical soup, no wonder I couldn't get my fat butt off the couch, I didnt WANT to! The last doctor wanted to add a "mild antidepressant" to the mix (is there such thing, really?).

Finally, finally, I said enough already. I googled and found this site, ordered the book, ordered the other book, and read everything recommended here. In March I took a bash at the lifestyle, and after figuring out how easy it was to eat this way, I committed in June to really really make this work.

My RA symptoms are virtually gone, as well as the fibromyalgia. I have been exercising each day and my lawn and garden are loving me for it. My dogs are losing weight too lol. My BP is below "normal" and in the past two weeks I have gone to bed each night and fallen asleep without tranquilizers... just like normal people do. I had not fallen asleep on my own in three years.

It's a new life for me, I mean that.

So this was my long way of saying that my energy levels are unbelievable, I am smiling where I used to have permanent frown lines, my elbows and ankles don't hurt, and I can't imagine ever going back to the puffy lazy fatigued and crashed SAD lifestyle. I have lost eight pounds since June (and eight before that), and I know that the weight will keep dropping away. Yesterday I took all my size 18s and some of my 16s and put them in the Salvation Army. Did my fat clothes happy dance.

My family can't believe the change in me so far, I tell them they aint seen nothing yet.

Cheers

What a great story! Congratulations!

Shackwacky it's great to see you off the medicine train. There are many of us here that were on that "express to nowhere." None of the medicines I was on ever did anything for my health except whatever placebo effect they may have had. You had a nice long list like most of my family, including my parents. EVERYONE has all the heart issues as well as bad cases of arthritis.
Very few of them see the connection between their diet and their health. It's wonderful you were motivated to try another path. Whether it was fear or desperation or both, your story is inspiring and another example of what Dr. McDougall says happens EVERYTIME you start eating like a human is designed to. I become more impressed with the body's healing powers with every new story of regained health. Thanks for sharing and being here.
f1jim