John McDougall - Dr. McDougalls Digestive Tune-Up

DR. McDOUGALLS

Digestive
Tune-Up

John A. McDougall, MD

ILLUSTRATIONS BY HOWARD BARTNER

HEALTHY LIVING PUBLICATIONS

Summertown, Tennessee

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McDougall, John A.

Dr. McDougalls digestive tune-up / John A. McDougall ; illustrations by Howard Bartner.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-57067-184-5

ISBN-10: 1-57067-184-2

1. Digestive organsDiseasesDiet therapyPopular works. 2. Digestive organsDiseasesNutritional aspectsPopular works. 3. NutritionPopular works. 4. VegetarianismPopular works. I. Title.

RC806.M23 2006 616.3'0654dc22

15 14 13 12 11 10 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

2006, 2008 John A. McDougall, MD

Illustrations: Howard Bartner

Cover and interior photos: Ed Aiona

Design: Aerocraft Charter Art Service

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever, except for brief quotations in reviews, without written permission from the publisher.

Printed in Hong Kong.

Healthy Living Publications

a division of Book Publishing Company

P.O. Box 99

Summertown, TN 38483

888-260-8458 www.bookpubco.com

ISBN 10: 1-57067-184-2

ISBN 13: 978-1-57067-184-5

Book Publishing Co. is a member of Green Press Initiative. We chose to print this title on paper with postconsumer recycled content, processed without chlorine, which prevented the following waste of natural resources:

For more information, visit www.greenpressinitiative.org . Savings calculations thanks to the Environmental Defense Paper Calculator, www.papercalculator.org .

Contents

Before You Begin

This instructional material offers you a significant opportunity to regain your health and enhance your personal appearance. However, diet is powerful medicine. Do not change your diet or start an intense exercise program if you are seriously ill or on medication, unless you are under the care of a physician knowledgeable in nutrition and its effects on health. Do not change medications without professional advice. When appropriate, share this message with your doctor. If abnormal bowel movements persist after a change to a plant-based diet, especially if there is accompanying pain or bleeding, a doctors examination is indicated.

The McDougall Diet is a pure-vegetarian diet based around starchy vegetables, with the addition of fresh or frozen fruits and other vegetables. If you follow this diet strictly for more than three years, or if you are pregnant or nursing, you should take a minimum of five micrograms (mcg) of supplemental vitamin B12 each day.

Even though this instructional material is quite complete for changing your life, there is much more information to be found on the McDougall Web site at www.drmcdougall.com and in the McDougall books. Between the Web site and books you will find over 2,200 recipes to choose from. One of the most helpful and cost-effective experiences you can have is to view a McDougall DVD seminar. However, those of you desiring serious change in your health and medical care should consider becoming involved in one of the many programs at the McDougall Health Center. During the ten-day live-in McDougall Program you will become a patient of Dr. McDougalls. In this controlled and comfortable environment, you will rapidly progress to become medication-free, trim, active, healthy, and feeling better than you ever thought possible.

E-mail:

Web site: www.drmcdougall.com

The McDougall Health Center

PO Box 14039

Santa Rosa, CA 95402

Telephone: (800) 941-7111 or (707) 538-8609

FAX: (707) 538-0712

Acknowledgments

The bowels lie deep inside the bodyshrouded by a cloak of mystery, trimmed with a sash of shame. On the pages that follow, I hope to remove the cloak and strip away the shame. I will speak frankly about subject matters that some may find delicate, even offensive. Because of my commitment to tell this story in a candid manner, three writers refused to work with me. Finding the right publisher was no small task either, taking three years to discover a company that shared my vision for a straightforward, practical discussion aimed at helping people live healthier, fuller lives. My goal is not to offend but to empower.

Those brave people joining me in this journey into the depths of the gut deserve some special recognition. First and foremost, writer Lisa Espinoza spent hundreds of hours translating my dry technical language into a warm and entertaining story. She brought unmatched talent and dedication to this project.

Medical illustrator Howard Bartner provided the humorous drawings of Larry and Louise used throughout the book. Darryl Leja, a talented medical illustrator and friend of Howard Bartner, provided digital expertise to enhance the images.

My gratitude goes to Bob and Cynthia Holzapfel, publisher and managing editor at Book Publishing Company, for their willingness to make the extra stretch and publish a book on this untouchable subject. Jo Stepaniak was responsible for copyediting. John Wincek deserves credit for the cover and interior design of the book.

Thanks to the efforts of these and other talented people, readers will now have the opportunity to make simple dietary choices and well-informed medical decisions that will bring health to their intestinal tract, the portal to the rest of the body.

Introduction

If youve picked up this book, chances are you suffer from the same nagging symptoms as most Americansbloating, indigestion, chronic abdominal pain after eating, frequent diarrhea, or the opposite, constant constipation. Maybe youve even been diagnosed with one of the plethora of digestive disorders plaguing our societygallbladder disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diverticulosis, Crohns disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or ulcerative colitis, just to name a few. Or perhaps youre just curious. Good. Prevention is always the preferred option. If youre in the unfortunate bellyaching group, take heartyoure about to discover a plan for rescuing your ailing body. No doubt youve heard the old antacid pitch, How do you spell relief? Youre about to learn a new way to spell relief, and it doesnt come in a pill.

Im the luckiest doctor in the world because my patients regain their lost health and appearance by following the simple, cost-free, side-effect-free dietary and lifestyle advice I prescribe.

Im going to make a statement that may surprise you. You may even doubt its validity at first. Although it makes perfect sense, it has been concealed by controversy originating from those who stand to lose the most if you stumble upon the truth. And here is the truththe food you put into your body is the single most powerful factor that determines your health and well-being. How can I make this bold claim? The answer will soon be clear.

Our journey through the intestinal tract will be in three stages: first the upper intestinal tract, then the liver and gallbladder, and finally the lower intestine.