McDougall 2018

[jb116]

Has anybody seen McDougall lately?
I've always reserved a small space of admiration when it came to McDougall, mostly in terms of not shunning carbs for so long now. I also thought that for many people who are saturated with iron, PUFA, and other insults from typical diets can find relief through his main concepts precisely by avoiding those things. I don't think however his approach his necessarily sustainable or at least the healthiest way to live. If you compare two videos of him, in the course of one year, there is a significant difference. Not only a difference in how he looks but pat attention to his speech and mannerism as well. Personally, didn't get a good feeling about it.

2017


2018

 

[Wagner83]

In one video he does a big presentation with lots of preparation in front of a crowd, visual aspect was important as well perhaps some make up was used. In the other he's relaxed, seated at home. The angle of the camera and lights aren't the same either.

His voice though...

 

[jb116]

In one video he does a big presentation with lots of preparation in front of a crowd, visual aspect was important as well perhaps some make up was used. In the other he's relaxed, seated at home. The angle of the camera and lights aren't the same either.

His voice though...

Fair enough, I do think it's good to consider camera angles, surrounding circumstance, and such.

So here's a more comparable video from 2017:


IMO, there's this declining robustness I see and a general frailty. Not just aging, but a compromise in energy production and structure to put it Peaty.

 

[Wagner83]

Fair enough, I do think it's good to consider camera angles, surrounding circumstance, and such.

So here's a more comparable video from 2017:


IMO, there's this declining robustness I see and a general frailty. Not just aging, but a compromise in energy production and structure to put it Peaty.

He looks like he has good brain function, Peat himself has stuttered a lot more in the past. I don't know what he does with his face but his skin is pretty wrinkle-free. He doesn't use hormones (or even supplements?) as far as I know. I doubt we function the same everyday, perhaps sometimes there are rough events that happens etc... One thing to keep in mind is that like Peat I think those guys focus so much on diet because of problems they have in their younger days: "In 1965, at age 18, McDougall suffered a massive stroke, which he attributed to his high animal product diet.[4] ".
I'm not defending his diet btw, I hope we can do better.

 

[jb116]

He looks like he has good brain function, Peat himself has stuttered a lot more in the past. I don't know what he does with his face but his skin is pretty wrinkle-free. He doesn't use hormones (or even supplements?) as far as I know. I doubt we function the same everyday, perhaps sometimes there are rough events that happens etc... One thing to keep in mind is that like Peat I think those guys focus so much on diet because of problems they have in their younger days: "In 1965, at age 18, McDougall suffered a massive stroke, which he attributed to his high animal product diet.[4] ".
I'm not defending his diet btw, I hope we can do better.

Yea I had heard about that stroke incident. He probably avoided the problematic things that lead to that stroke by employing these ideas. To your point, we can do better, which is what I found Peat's ideas facilitate: tying in the proper ideas into play rather than isolated ideologies.

I think Mcdougall is a driven and intelligent guy, and his good brain function definitely goes without saying. What I see is a stark contrast when I compare him to himself. The contrast and progression I observe struck me, but hopefully he'll be okay.

 

[Forsythia]

jb116 I see what you are seeing. Macdougall's appearance in the 2nd video is shocking to me. He looks emaciated, frail and 20 years older than his age (he looks 90 not 70). He does not look well at all.

 

[DDK]

Maybe he went through an extremely stressful life event (Major Illness, Death of a Loved One, etc...) before that video in 2018. Because he looks like he is very stressed and withered compared to pre-2018 videos that I've seen of him. That being said, the core of his dietary recommendations is still in line with everything Peat says with the exception of no animal foods. He recommends fruits, vegetables and starch. No oils/PUFA and he also advises against supplements and drugs other than taking sugar, salt and aspirin as supplements. So with the exception of him being vegan and recommending starch, he is very close to Peat principles. I remember asking Peat a long time ago about the McDougall diet of Fruits, Vegetables and Starch. He responded by saying something along the lines of "well add a quart of milk or some eggs/meat to the diet and it would be a sound diet."

 

[High_Prob]

In the second video, he talks about losing his house in the California fires 1 year prior...

 

[saraleah]

He's vegan because he had a stroke when he was very young. Scary, and I don't blame him for not wanting another stroke, sticking to what he found reverses cardiovascular disease. He wrote a post on his blog about having broken bones a few years ago. I've tried to find it again but it seems to be deleted everywhere. Ray Peat said vegans don't have strong bones and have bad teeth, sure he's right.
He has good points, he means well, has stayed true to his beliefs , but he does look old for being only in his early 70s. But Ill bet he's happy to be alive and seems to love what he does. Sad about his house though.

 

[tallglass13]

The issue is he is only around 70 yrs old. I thought he looked good in his younger years, however. He was very handsome and he had good jaw line with no loose skin. Much much better than his meat eater peers and Dr. Atkins. However, he is an example of exactly what Ray Peat says happens to people if they don't get enough calcium and protein.
Also his wife has had a couple of miscarriages during there marriage, which can be from not having enough cholesterol to support a menstrual cycle and pregnancy. I think this is more proof, that vegan or strict vegetarian diets aren't healthful for humans. Fruit and milk though can cover most of the basis for a healthy diet according to Peat.

 

[Reaper242xx]

I checked out the McDougall starch diet a while back, didn't like it, and I don't really buy into the idea humans are "starchivores" (not really a word, lol). In fact I thought his book "Starch Solution" was pure crap. Most science suggests cooked animal proteins are responsible for our increase in brain size. However I think McDougall should be praised for bringing the seed oil industry to eveyone's attention. And any health benefits that come from eating his diet are probably due to the fact these oils are forbidden. I'm also glad to see he features the potato, but, grains are bad for the most part (maybe some white rice, though, still pretty empty from a nutritional standpoint).

 

[Collden]

Grains are fine as long as they are refined to remove insoluble fiber and antinutrients, its the foundation of asian and mediterrenean cuisine, which continues to support healthy populations.

 

[Deleted member 5487]

Big problem with starchivores and frugivores. They don’t budge a bit.

Why not throw in some greens broth, eggs, and occasional gelatin/ liver and a little saturated fat. Treat them like supplements so you don’t blow through all your vitamins minerals.