John A. McDougall

John A. McDougall (born May 17, 1947) is an American physician and author. He has written a number of diet books advocating the consumption of a low-fat vegan diet based on starchy foods and vegetables.

His eponymous diet, called The McDougall Plan was a New York Times bestseller. It has been categorized as a low-fat fad diet. The diet rejects all animal products as well as cooking oils, processed food, alcoholic beverages and caffeinated drinks. As with any restrictive high-fiber diet, it may lead to flatulence, possibly poor mineral absorption from excess fiber, and limited food choices that may lead to a feeling of deprivation.

McDougall is a graduate of Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine. He performed his internship at Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1972 and his medical residency at the University of Hawaiʻi. McDougall contributed to the Vegetarian Times magazine and has appeared on television talk shows.

McDougall is also a member of the advisory board of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). In 2016, he was one of four named plaintiffs in a lawsuit by the PCRM alleging improper influence by the egg industry on establishing cholesterol recommendations in the US. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2016.

Diet programs and products

In 2002, McDougall began the McDougall Program at the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa, California. The McDougall Program, based in Santa Rosa, is a 10-day residential treatment program which features a low-fat, starch-based, vegan diet. The McDougall diet is a low-fat starch-based diet that is high in fiber and contains no cholesterol. The diet is based on a variety of starches such as rice, potatoes, corn, breads, pasta, and fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. For example, a meal might be made of a baked potato with steamed broccoli, or steamed brown rice with steamed vegetables, perhaps with a piece of fruit for dessert.

McDougall is the co-founder of the now Woodland-based Dr. McDougall's Right Foods Inc., which produces dried and packaged soups, manufactured for it by the SF Spice Co.

McDougall has promoted his diet as an alternative treatment for a number of chronic disorders, including arthritis, atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and osteoporosis.

His book The McDougall Plan was a New York Times bestseller.

McDougall has been criticized for making unsubstantiated health claims. Some of McDougall's dietary recommendations are in line with mainstream nutritional advice, such as an emphasis on fruits, vegetables and whole grains, but others are considered extreme and are not supported by evidence. McDougall's diet plan has been called a low-fat fad diet that may lead to boredom with limited food choices, and feelings of deprivation because of exclusion of favorite foods. The high fiber content can cause flatulence and possibly interfere with mineral absorption.

A 2020 review study found that the McDougall diet was a vegan, very low-fat (only 10% of kilocalories from fat), high-carbohydrate diet. Sodium intake is restricted and no animal products or added oils are permitted. The study noted that "iron, zinc, vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, and omega-3 are potential nutritional deficiencies from following such a strict diet", but also noted that one study had reported "improvements in predictors for cardiovascular and metabolic disease" in people using the diet, and that "improvements in low density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol, insulin, BMI, and fatigue severity scale scores were observed" in people using the diet.

In 1992, nutritionist Kurt Butler described McDougall's ideas as "vegetarian extremism" and McDougall as "Americas most influential vegan zealot" who has taken the low-fat vegetarian diet to extremes.

Reviewing McDougall's book The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss, nutritionist Fredrick J. Stare and epidemiologist Elizabeth Whelan criticized its restrictive regime and "poor advice", concluding that the diet's concepts were "extreme and out of keeping with nutritional reality". The authors state that failure to consume dairy products creates a risk for osteoporosis, and that if animal products cannot be replaced with peanut butter and soybean foods, vegans may not obtain enough protein. Reviewing The McDougall Program: 12 Days to Dynamic Health, doctor Harriet Hall wrote that the book is filled with anecdotes and questionable statements, and that it makes many claims which are not supported by science. Hall concluded that "Some of McDougall’s recommendations are in line with mainstream advice, but there is reason to fear that strict adherence to his whole Program might result in nutritional deficits that could do more harm than good."

McDougall's dieting advice has been studied for its efficacy in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis; a 2016 randomized controlled trial did not find significant evidence that the diet affects the severity or progression a patient's multiple sclerosis, but it did find that people on the diet showed lowered cholesterol, improved their insulin levels, experienced weight loss, and–due to the weight loss–experienced reductions in fatigue.

McDougall has written several books, with his wife Mary contributing recipes, that sold more than 1.5 million copies as of 2008.

Books

• McDougall, John; McDougall, Mary (June 4, 2013). The Starch Solution. Book Pub Co. ISBN 9781570671845. OL 16361276W.
• McDougall, John (2006). Dr. McDougall's Digestive Tune-Up. New Century Publishers. ISBN 9780832904073. OL 1939852W.
• McDougall, John (August 1, 1991). The McDougall Program: 12 Days to Dynamic Health. Penguin. ISBN 9781101645116. OL 1939857W.
• McDougall, John; McDougall, Mary (April 1, 1995). The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss. Penguin. ISBN 9781101645123.
• McDougall, John; McDougall, Mary (January 1, 1997). The New McDougall Cookbook. Plume. ISBN 9780452274655. OL 1939856W.
• McDougall, John; McDougall, Mary (April 1999). The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook. Penguin. ISBN 9781101119174. OL 1939855W.