I read Dr. McDougall's latest newsletter today. You can read it HERE.

I took issue with this statement:


I foolishly thought that if I made this error (about fruits and non-starchy vegetables being a recent addition to the Atkins diet by the Atkins Nutritionals people) known to them, they would change the newsletter. (Yes, I also took issue with the nonsense about ketosis being a "state of illness" but I figured one battle at a time.)

This is the email I sent to Dr. McDougall:



(I should have made it clear that the newsletter was about the paleo diet, but the quote I was questioning was about Atkins. Unfortunately, I assumed he KNEW what his newsletter was about.)

Here is the email response I got:



Angry? Did my email sound angry?

Me:



McDougall:



Me:



(I realize after re-reading this that I did not actually provide that quote three times. I guess it just felt like it.)


McDougall:



Me: (Attempting to NOT sound angry)


McDougall:


Me:


I admit, I do love the idea of the McDougall diet. However, the more I read of his writings, the more I wonder how much he is prevaricating.

Anyway, that was the last email I got from them. The whole thing is bizarre and very disturbing. I don't know if I should be posting this here, but I thought there might be others who are confused about all of this who would like to know the truth.

I'm very sorry to find that either Dr. McDougall or the person who answers his emails doesn't care for the truth at all. And I don't know why. I thought he was interested in helping people achieve better health. Now I think he either wants to sell books or he has an animal rights agenda.

This happened to me when I read a review of The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet, written (the review) by Jimmy Moore. I have adored Jimmy Moore. He was my guru forever. (ETA: bear with me, there ends up being a point here... I swear...)

What he wrote about CAD was that one is allowed "ZERO" (the all caps were his) carbs at two meals a day, then a binge was encouraged.

This diet never, ever, ever advocates zero carbs at any meal. None. In fact the diet *requires* vegetables, and a lot of them, at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I tried to get him to correct his review and he smarmied around snottily about how he had invited the Drs. Heller (the authors of the book) to correct him on his blog. I tried to impress upon him that that is not required; he is the one who blatantly misstated the diet, in all caps, no less, and several times.

He snotted back about how the Hellers could still post on his blog.

Yes, I'm SURE that would be fair game. And geeeeeeeeee. It would lead people yet again back to Moore's blog, eh?

We think these people want us to be healthy, but the bottom line is, they're selling something. They don't love us. Sometimes, they don't even like us (as evidenced by my exchange with Jimmy Moore above). They want to get money.

The can and will attack and misstate. They do. You've seen it. I've seen it. You're talking to writers and salespeople. They don't care whether you or I live or die, not really. They have *some* science...and we must cross-check that and if it's good, take it, and if it's bad, leave it.

That's all any of us can do, sadly. But then again, it makes us good researchers and great fact-checkers! And it will probably make us healthier in the long run. It's not all gloom and doom, there's a silver lining -- we are forced to educate ourselves.

Thanks, Glendora. Yes, I do (did) think these people want us to be healthy. I have spent this evening really upset by this email exchange. I guess I have to grow up and realize that these people have their bottom line at heart, not my health.

I still don't understand it.

Oh hon. There are people who care about your health, your family, I'm assuming, and friends, both IRL and online. I know it stinks to have a hero knocked down a peg or two (I don't literally mean he was your hero, just a figure of speech). I think some of these people started in the right place, then got greedy.

I am very sure there are people in your life who would like nothing better than to see you be healthy. I actually don't blame you at all for being upset about your exchange. If it helps any, you were 100% rational, non-confrontational and not (snort! double-snort) "angry."

Thanks, Glendora, for thinking I was rational and not angry.

I know that my family and friends want me to be healthy, but they don't claim to be experts. I want the people who claim to be health experts to actually BE health experts and not just assh*les who have some kind of agenda or want to sell books.

I guess I fell for the notion that vegans are super-caring people interested in the health of people and the planet. (Cue new-agey music here.)

Anyway, thanks for being rational and kind.

I sent one last email to Dr. McDougall:

They still got it wrong in what they wroteto youIn DANDR the rules for induction are
Don't you love it when they don't even get the info they are referring to right!! Looks like they didn't follow their own advice to READ DANDR!!

McDougall sells a very expensive live-in program. It goes for more than 2 grand for a week. So we know he's got something to sell. Atkins also sold something, so we can't dismiss any of it just because they have something to sell. However, when you compare the discourse of each salesman, you can see clearly who is willing to test his product in a fair comparison. Somehow I doubt Atkins would have told anybody "you sound angry" in reply to a genuine inquiry about his product, or about a competing product.

My personal experience tells me low-carb advocates are more than willing to answer questions honestly to the best of their knowledge. Low-fat advocates, not so much. Also from my personal experience, low-carb advocates almost always appear more knowledgeable about the subject, yet acknowledge that knowledge is still not totally complete.

I remember watching a video where McDougall was explaining the virtues of sugar, and bashing Atkins. He explained that Atkins makes us sick, and his only argument was that it did stuff to health markers. The problem is that the same argument can also be made for any diet, including McDougall's, because they also do stuff with health markers in the same way. So if Atkins makes us sick because of that, and if McGougall's also does the same things, then shouldn't we conclude that it also makes us sick? One person with whom I had a lengthy discussion on that explained how Atkins makes us sick, and provided a shoddy experimental study where the subjects were allowed to choose their own dietary intervention. Tsk tsk.

Consider that if McDougall did not talk about Atkins, his audience would be that much smaller because the name Atkins is already extremely popular. So that could be the only reason he's bashing it. From that point of view, it doesn't really matter if what McDougall says is true or not, he's still got the publicity anyway just by mentioning the name. Come to think of it, before I watched McDougall's video of him bashing Atkins because it makes us sick, I'd never heard of McDougall so I guess it works.

It sounds like T. Campbell's tactic when Denise took apart "The China Study"

They appear to be quoting from Web MD or some other internet source. Searching for those words lists a bunch of other sites with the same quote.
http://www.webmd.com/diet/atkins-diet-what-it-is


I know I've read this phrase before, it might have been in the original 1972 Atkins book but it's not the whole plan.

Beth

It sounds like the kind of blurb they would put on the book cover as an introduction to entice you to buy the book.

Do they not realise that avocados are fruits??

Yup, and the quote itself says part of, not the whole program. So saying this is the whole program is bogus from any angle...including the very quote McDougall used to prove his erroneous point. :headslap:

"Steak with Bearnaise sauce, eggs and bacon, cheddar cheese omelets -- don't hold the yolks, Roquefort dressing, and silky smooth avocado cream soup made with real cream? These rich foods are allowed as part of the controversial diet described in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, a phenomenal best seller, and several follow-up books, including the 2010 New Atkins for a New You." (bolding mine)

Geez, what a knob, seriously. I mean I'm sorry but...come on. Even within the quote he himself uses it says all this cheesy creamy bacony-stuff is only a part of the plan, from the word go.

Well...if they can't even read one simple quote in its entirety, then no, I wouldn't be surprised at a lack of the knowledge that avocados are a fruit.

You're so right. He is using Dr. Atkins' name recognition to boost sales. Everyone has heard of Atkins, but I've never met anyone IRL who knows who McDougall is.

I hope my posts from last night didn't sound too crazy. I was very upset. What a waste of my time and emotion. I'm glad I came here to vent. Everybody here is always REALLY helpful.