Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Hi,Jeff.

I hope you're doing well and that COVID hasn't negatively affected your work and home lives too much. (Zoom meetings to the rescue, right?)

I know this is really in the weeds, but I'm trying to begin cleanup on my diet and, when you have a moment, would welcome your input with regard to Dietary Triage. Without addressing the question of "how much?" will you score the following items in terms of positive correlation with negative health outcomes? Ranking (0 = Neutral, -3 = Strong Negative Correlation). These are the questionable items I find myself consuming daily. The rest are what Doug Lyle refers to as A+ foods.

Food Item:
Cocoa Powder (e.g. Hershey's)
Coconut Flour
Coffee (instant)
Coffee Creamer (powdered)
Dry Roasted, Salted Seeds (e.g., pumpkin, sunflower)
Hi-Fiber/Whole Grain Dry Cereals (e.g. Kashi Original, Nature's Path Heritage Flakes)
Low-Fat Salad Dressings (e.g. ranch, Caesar)
MSG
Peanuts (dry roasted, unsalted)
Protein Isolates (dairy)
Protein Isolates (pea, hemp)
Protein Isolates (soy)
Stevie Extract (powder)
Table Salt (iodized)
Traditional Soy (e.g. soymilk, edamame)
TVP

Vr,
Ben

Here is a thread about Dr Lisle’s rating system, which includes a discussion on why I don’t like rating systems and other related thoughts.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=54512

In Health
Jeff

Jeff,

Good bit of gouge there. I like the notion of "anything goes" if you can keep it under 5-10% of calories.

On a related note I was rewatching the 2008 Vegsource presentations and McDougall made an interesting point along the lines of, "you can drive it from that end." He was referring to the notion of "nutritional adequacy" vs. "nutritional excellence." Have you written on this topic?

I bring it up because I didn't see mention of a recommended spit between Cat A and Cat B foods. I mean at what point can you tell yourself, "I've had enough steamed greens today and now I'm going to have some white pasta noodles with an off-the-shelf dressing."

Vr,
Ben

Shytebucket wrote:Jeff,

Good bit of gouge there. I like the notion of "anything goes" if you can keep it under 5-10% of calories.

On a related note I was rewatching the 2008 Vegsource presentations and McDougall made an interesting point along the lines of, "you can drive it from that end." He was referring to the notion of "nutritional adequacy" vs. "nutritional excellence." Have you written on this topic?

I bring it up because I didn't see mention of a recommended spit between Cat A and Cat B foods. I mean at what point can you tell yourself, "I've had enough steamed greens today and now I'm going to have some white pasta noodles with an off-the-shelf dressing."

Vr,
Ben

On Nutrition Excellence

High Quality Foods: How To Optimize Your Food & Nutrient Intake or
How Much Kale Does It Really Take To Reach Nutrient Nirvana?
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28413

On Greens

Eating greens and nitric oxide production
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=44548

Leafy Greens 6x/Day? (Followup to "nitric oxide production")
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=44556

Leafy Greens 6x/Day? Redux
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=55369

How Much Kale Does It Really Take To Reach Nutrient Nirvana?
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28413

My look at the Eating Greens study on Okinawa Women that Dr Esselstyn quotes
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28413#p377385

Jeff,

Thank you for the links. I've read over them all and rewatched your HeathyLifestyleExpo talks.

Since originally posting I've made two significant changes: ditching salt (aiming for < 1500 mg/day and most always < 2300 mg/day) and replacing the dry cereal, roasted/salted nut seed mix I was eating for lunch every day w/ low-sodium canned beans. That change has put me in a slight negative energy balance.

The trouble I'm facing is that I still consume a significant number of calories from foods on the list above (mostly liquid calories and protein isolates). But if you were to say, "now replace those junk calories with fresh fruits, vegetables, starches, etc." I would say "where am I gonna fit it all (without relying heavily on nuts.)" The amounts of Cat A foods I'm eating now is already leaving me feeling chronically stuffed/gassy.

-Ben