clary i come thanking you for writing this. for careing to help others understand. a so verygood explanation of the starch . i will use the clear words about the starch to now better talk about the dr mcdougall healthy program to my family&my friends
I'm certainly not Jeff, but will add some of my thoughts to what has been posted.
I think yours is an excellent question! --and an important one for those of us who wish to try to closely follow Dr. McDougall's programs, as he designed them to obtain the most improvement and the most lasting success; and the "
starch" component is not often emphasized here on the board. Without the
starches as the center of the meals, it's not "McDougalling."
Soon after we moved to this "new" Dr. McDougall-hosted board from the VegSource hosted board, I noticed that for some unknown reason, more and more frequently, people used the term "Vegan" when referring to Dr. McDougall's program. He separates himself purposely from the vegetarian and vegan categories. He defines his program as a
STARCH-Based (or
starch-centered) Program, as you pointed out.
His program IS different from a plant-based diet because of his emphasis on
the regular, repeated use of starches as the --
center-- of the diet. As far as I know, his teachings are unique in this respect.
If you have the
12 Days to Dynamic Health book, the STARCH STAPLES are listed on pp. 94 and 95. (My copy of the book was printed in 1991.) Or see the recommended
STARCHES here at the Free Program:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/free_4b.html There are at least 75 high-
starchy foods listed in my book, and the website list is probably updated from the list in the book. These foods are meant to be the foods Dr.McDougall's programs are "centered" around in our meals. A person could be eating a totally plant-based diet and yet never eat even one bite of the McDougall recommended
starchy foods.
All the
starchy foods on the McDougall "Starch Staples" list come from plants or are made from plants, (are "plant-based"), but all
plants or plant-based foods aren't necessarily starches.
Dr. McDougall often uses the term
starch-centered (starch-based), meaning the meals in his programs are
centered around or planned around the
starches in the meals. The
starch at meals is the "main dish". In the 12 Days book, for example, in the publisher's note:
"The McDougall Program uses a starch-centered diet with the addition of fruits and vegetables." In the same book Dr. McDougall says,
"A starch-based diet is one of the fundamentals of the McDougall Program"; --and, "Of all the misconceptions I once held about nutrition, the idea that
starches are fattening was the easiest for me to correct"; --and,
"Follow a diet centered around starches with the addition of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables"; --and,
"From the first day our patients eat carefully prepared and mouth-watering meals featuring starches...."; --and,
"The Essentials [of 12 day program]: A health-supporting twelve-day diet in which you eat starches, vegetables, and fruits high in complex carbohydrates and fiber and low in fat, and judicious daily [moderate] exercise"; --and,
"My recommendations: Follow the McDougall Program. A low-fat, no-cholesterol, starch-based diet..." ; --and many other references to his
starch-centered or starch-based food plans.
As often as he mentions that his programs are
Starch-Centered, that "piece" of the program seems sometimes not to be noticed and dwelled upon or discussed as much as other principles of his program are; or is somehow overlooked, for one reason or another. I know it took a while for the "Starch-Centerdness" principle to sink in for me
, and even longer for me to learn to plan ahead for it and implement it!
I can still remember how amazing I felt, and how long I felt "full" and satisfied, and how my appetite calmed down, and my cravings went away once I finally "got it" about
starch being the center of my meals (and changed my thinking about "potatoes being fattening", etc.
), as he teaches. A person can be a practicing vegetarian (as I considered myself), or a strict vegan, or a raw foodist, or faithfully following a "plant-based diet" and yet never eat even one
starchy food!
Whereas, as a SAD eater the question, "What's for dinner/supper?" was usually answered with "chicken, fish, meatloaf, steak, pork chops", etc.; a
starch-centered diet names the
starch of the meal for what we are having as "the meal": "We're having rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, oats, millet, noodles, yams, acorn squash, garbanzos/limas/navy beans, peas, lentils, etc. --(with added fruits or/and vegetables)."
Instead of "Where's the beef?", McDougallers ask, "
Where's the Starch?"
--and then build the meal around that
starch, like some of us might have built a meal around meat in the past.
A person could be on a plant-based diet and drink fresh juices, and blend delicious smoothies with added green veges and fruits, eat nuts, eat big salads with a variety of colorful raw or cooked veges, eat "fake" vegetarian meats and "fake" cheeses, tofu dishes, eat lots of luscious fresh fruit and leafy greens, and NOT be following a
McDougall starch-centered diet. That's a choice. Choosing "McDougalling" includes the regular addition of the
starchy foods at meals.
Jeff recently posted
an excellent sample menu plan/guide for a McDougall Starch-Based diet, and he lists a
starch as the center of each meal:
JeffN wrote:
JeffN wrote:
If you follow the guidelines and principles recommended here, you will cover the basics without having to count servings.
Let me expound on this.
If you follow a starch based diet with the addition of fruit and green and yellow veggies at each meal, and consume enough to maintain your healthy weight then your day "may" look something "generically" like this...
(using averages for calories and serving sizes)
Breakfast:
Whole Grains (2 cups) 320 calories
Fresh Fruit (1 cup) 120 calories
Lunch:
Starchy Vegetable (2 cups) 320 calories
Legumes (1/2 cup) 120 calories
Veggies (2 cups of salad, soup and/or steamed veggies) 100 calories
Fruit (1 serving) 60 calories
Dinner:
Starchy Vegetable (2 cups) 320 calories
Legumes (1/2 cup) 120 calories
Veggies (2 cups of salad, soup and/or steamed veggies) 100 calories
Fruit (1 serving) 60 calories
Thats 12 servings of
Starchy Veggies/Whole Grains and 960 calories
Thats
3 servings of Legumes and 240 calories
Thats 8 servings of veggies and 200 calories
Thats 4 servings of fruit and 240 calories
thats 12 servings of fruits and veggies but only 1640 calories.
Of course, you could adjust the fruits, veggies, starchy veggies, etc up or down somewhat to fit your own preference, but the end results would be fairly similar.
And for those who want, add in a serving of nuts/seeds or avocado and that's another 175 calories and you are at ~1800 calories.
Not bad! And simple and easy.
BTW, those are also some fairly large sized and filling meals.
In Health
Jeff
PS when neighbors, friends and families ask me how many servings of fresh fruits veggies, starchy veggies, intact whole grains and legumes they should eat or feed to their children, my answer is always the same ...
....as much as you can.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARCH-CENTERED is the difference in and the key to success on a Dr. McDougall program, compared to "plant-based" or vegan, or vegetarian, yet the STARCH is sometimes overlooked. We can be sincerely compliant as "a vegetarian" or "a vegan" or as "plant-based", and yet not meet the suggested guidelines for being a Starch-Centered "McDougaller".
I break into a big grin 
Every Single Time I read "mmm..... potatoes." at the end of Mrs. Doodlepunk's posts! 
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