words, they provide considerably more of what is good for you and little to none of what makes you sick.
F IVE C OMPONENTS OF A NIMAL F OODS T HAT A RE P OISONING Y OU
Your body can handle only so much protein, fat, cholesterol, sulfur-containing amino acids, and dietary acids. When you take in more than your body can use, metabolize, neutralize, and/or eliminate, those excess amounts act as poisons. On a typical Western diet, these toxic by-products build up in your system on a daily basis. As you can see in the previous tables, compared with starches, animal foods burden us with inflated levels of these dietary components.
As if ingesting these toxic substances isn’t bad enough, their effects are additive and cumulative. Taking in too much protein, methionine, and dietary acid weakens our bones over time. Excess dietary fat and cholesterol clog the arteries and increase the risk of cancer. In fact, these five elements—all found in animal foods in quantities far greater than we are able to use and excrete—harm us in many ways. Let’s look at each of these potential toxins a little more closely.
S TAR M C D OUGALLER:
Jeff Armstrong, Elementary School Art Teacher, Sacramento, California
I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s when meat was cheap. In the late 1960s, steak was so cheap that my mom would serve it two or three times a week. I was able to maintain some semblance of slimness until I was about 19 years old. I never was one to be really athletic, and after age 19 I began to put on the pounds. My trim 190 on a 6-foot-4 frame became 220, then, in college, 240. I panicked and turned to Dr. Atkins. Within a few months of eating a pound of bacon for breakfast and “bunless” hamburgers for lunch and dinner I was able to drop about 35 pounds. It was a miracle. Only the miracle came at a price. My skin was greasy all the time. I had trouble sleeping. I felt nervous all day long. And at about the 3-month mark I started to get pains in my lower back. It was a while before I realized that the pain was probably my overworked kidneys. What a miracle. So I abandoned Atkins and within about 6 months gained back the weight I had lost and about 10 more pounds to boot. After several more of my failed attempts at dieting, my mother sent me some information about the McDougall Diet.
It’s that time of year again, my birthday—time to take stock. Tomorrow I turn 57, meaning that it was 10 years ago that I took the McDougall plunge. You said you never tire of hearing thanks, so I’m writing to say so again. Thanks to you I have lost 120 pounds from my high of 305 pounds. I’m now below my youthful trim weight of 190. Thanks to you, my cholesterol has plummeted from 271 to 127 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). (What a difference the order of those numbers makes!) Thanks to you, my favorite jeans fit better than ever. Thanks to you, I am finally at home in my body. My arthritis is gone. My sleep apnea is a past memory. I no longer experience lactose intolerance. My hiatal hernia has cleared up. No more atrial fibrillation. Even my ornery toenail fungus has cleared—is that a new one for you?
My friends and colleagues remain certain I am depriving myself, but I am not. I am perfectly happy with my simple regime of rice, beans, corn, greens, potatoes, and other veggies, mostly repeating the same combos over and over again. I walk 4 or 5 miles every day with my dogs, and I look forward to a workout at the health club three or four times a week. My doctor tells me that of all his patients he has seen only three or four accomplish what I have. But you and I know it is possible for anyone.
When my wife finally saw the light and jumped into the McDougall life with me she lost 40 pounds and now feels so much better. Her cholesterol is down 80 points and she is now a regular 5 days a week at the health club. She’s been up to Santa Rosa for your 10-day program and back for tune-ups. In fact, we
F IVE C OMPONENTS OF A NIMAL F OODS T HAT A RE P OISONING Y OU
Your body can handle only so much protein, fat, cholesterol, sulfur-containing amino acids, and dietary acids. When you take in more than your body can use, metabolize, neutralize, and/or eliminate, those excess amounts act as poisons. On a typical Western diet, these toxic by-products build up in your system on a daily basis. As you can see in the previous tables, compared with starches, animal foods burden us with inflated levels of these dietary components.
As if ingesting these toxic substances isn’t bad enough, their effects are additive and cumulative. Taking in too much protein, methionine, and dietary acid weakens our bones over time. Excess dietary fat and cholesterol clog the arteries and increase the risk of cancer. In fact, these five elements—all found in animal foods in quantities far greater than we are able to use and excrete—harm us in many ways. Let’s look at each of these potential toxins a little more closely.
S TAR M C D OUGALLER:
Jeff Armstrong, Elementary School Art Teacher, Sacramento, California
I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s when meat was cheap. In the late 1960s, steak was so cheap that my mom would serve it two or three times a week. I was able to maintain some semblance of slimness until I was about 19 years old. I never was one to be really athletic, and after age 19 I began to put on the pounds. My trim 190 on a 6-foot-4 frame became 220, then, in college, 240. I panicked and turned to Dr. Atkins. Within a few months of eating a pound of bacon for breakfast and “bunless” hamburgers for lunch and dinner I was able to drop about 35 pounds. It was a miracle. Only the miracle came at a price. My skin was greasy all the time. I had trouble sleeping. I felt nervous all day long. And at about the 3-month mark I started to get pains in my lower back. It was a while before I realized that the pain was probably my overworked kidneys. What a miracle. So I abandoned Atkins and within about 6 months gained back the weight I had lost and about 10 more pounds to boot. After several more of my failed attempts at dieting, my mother sent me some information about the McDougall Diet.
It’s that time of year again, my birthday—time to take stock. Tomorrow I turn 57, meaning that it was 10 years ago that I took the McDougall plunge. You said you never tire of hearing thanks, so I’m writing to say so again. Thanks to you I have lost 120 pounds from my high of 305 pounds. I’m now below my youthful trim weight of 190. Thanks to you, my cholesterol has plummeted from 271 to 127 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). (What a difference the order of those numbers makes!) Thanks to you, my favorite jeans fit better than ever. Thanks to you, I am finally at home in my body. My arthritis is gone. My sleep apnea is a past memory. I no longer experience lactose intolerance. My hiatal hernia has cleared up. No more atrial fibrillation. Even my ornery toenail fungus has cleared—is that a new one for you?
My friends and colleagues remain certain I am depriving myself, but I am not. I am perfectly happy with my simple regime of rice, beans, corn, greens, potatoes, and other veggies, mostly repeating the same combos over and over again. I walk 4 or 5 miles every day with my dogs, and I look forward to a workout at the health club three or four times a week. My doctor tells me that of all his patients he has seen only three or four accomplish what I have. But you and I know it is possible for anyone.
When my wife finally saw the light and jumped into the McDougall life with me she lost 40 pounds and now feels so much better. Her cholesterol is down 80 points and she is now a regular 5 days a week at the health club. She’s been up to Santa Rosa for your 10-day program and back for tune-ups. In fact, we
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