The Starch Solution (32 page)

A
re you ready for a challenge? Try the starch-based diet I recommend for 7 days. In a week you will know whether the Starch Solution is right for you. When I suggest that returning to a historically validated diet rich in starch and vegetables, low in fat, and without meat, fish, or dairy is simple, I don’t mean to suggest that it’s an easy change to make. For most people, this change is a big deal.

The good news is that with big changes come big results. Experience tells me that you will come to love it, and surprisingly quickly. I also know that you will be relieved to eat as much as you wish, be completely satisfied afterward, and lose excess weight as you improve your health more than you ever could from any pill or surgery prescribed by your well-meaning doctors.

This is not an all-or-nothing program. However, change is usually easier when you draw clear boundaries for yourself, like: Today I am a smoker and tomorrow I will not be. My recommendation is to go at this with your full will and intention to become different. Today I am a meat, dairy, and junk-food eater and tomorrow I will not be. Tomorrow, and from now on, I will be a starch eater, the way nature always intended me to be.

It is always best to consult your physician before making any major change to your diet; it is essential to do so if you are ill or on medication. While you’re there, why not take the opportunity to get a little more data by having your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides measured along with your weight before you begin? I also suggest checking your thyroid function, as low thyroid can influence your weight and health. Measured before you begin following this plan and again after you have followed it faithfully for a week (and at reasonable intervals as you continue), these test results will provide some of the best evidence that the Starch Solution is helping you not only drop those excess pounds but improve your overall health. They will also help get your doctor on board so that he or she can support your ongoing commitment to this change. You may even end up helping others as your doctor passes along this secret to good health.

On the opposite page is a lab slip you can hand your doctor to ask for the simple tests that will show you whether this diet is effective for you.

Copy the page, fill out the information about yourself in the first two boxes, and bring it to your doctor. Tell your doctor that you will be following a starch-based diet for 7 days. Ask whether there is any reason you should not try this 7-day challenge. I cannot think of a valid reason your doctor could give you not to try the Starch Solution; nonetheless, it is important that he or she knows what you are doing, especially if you are on medications or have any serious health problems. Most commonly, medications for high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes need to be reduced or stopped when you begin your new diet. Antacids, laxatives, and pain medications are reduced or stopped by most people when they begin. All of these changes in medication need to be made under the supervision and with the recommendations of a competent health care provider. Also let your doctor know that you will be returning in 7 days to repeat these tests.

Ask your doctor or nurse to record the information in the bottom box for you:

Before you get started, weigh yourself and write down your weight. Store it someplace you will remember. This may be the biggest clue as to how effective this new way of eating is for you.

The rules of the 7-Day Sure-Start Plan are easy to follow:

1. Eat more starch. Eat as much starch as you like. Don’t go hungry.
   
 

2. Choose the least processed starches and other foods you can find. (For example, brown rice is better than white; cooked whole grains are better than products made with white flour.)
   
 

3. Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.
   
 

4. Eliminate animal food from your diet, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese, and milk.
   
 

5. Keep your fat intake as low as possible, enjoying avocado, coconut, other nuts, and seeds only as occasional treats.
   
 

6. Avoid any added fat in your food, including butter, margarine, and all vegetable oils, even olive oil.
   
 

7. When eating soy foods, skip those that are highly processed (e.g., soy burgers) and enjoy minimally processed soy foods like tofu, edamame (soybeans), and soy milk as infrequent additions in small quantities; they’re richer than you think.
   
 

8. Go easy on sugar and salt, but don’t sweat the unimportant stuff. They’re usually the scapegoat, not the problem. Whenever possible, add them to the surface of the foods.
   
 

Over many years of working with patients making the transition to a starch-based diet, I have heard over and over again that two tips helped them above all others to get comfortable with this new style of eating:

• Avoid temptation by keeping unhealthy foods you crave out of your home and workplace. If a food feels like an addictive drug when you eat it—you have a hard time stopping—it’s not a good food to keep around.
  
 

• Prepare or purchase healthy foods you enjoy so there is always something you can feel good about eating, especially when you are in a hurry. Keep your refrigerator and cupboards filled with good foods you can grab on the go and bring along with you to work or on the road.
  
 

That’s everything you need to get started. Easy, right? But to make things even easier, I’ve provided you with a 7-day menu plan.

The menus that follow are meant to offer variety; they are not set in stone. This is an endlessly flexible way of eating. You can swap any dish on the menu for any of the recipes in
Chapter 15
or those included in other McDougall books or in the McDougall Cookbook app. For a quick fix, you can purchase a variety of Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods cups in many supermarkets. If on Day 5 you are in the mood for the menu on Day 3, no problem, swap them. If you really enjoyed the lunch on Day 2, follow that menu twice, or three times, or seven. In fact, if you simply adore sweet potatoes and broccoli, you can eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and between-meal snacks—every day of the week for many years. As you have learned in this book, starches along with vegetables and fruits provide complete nutrition.

Although the menus are based on three meals per day, the number of times you eat is not important. You can eat once a day or 14 times. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied. If you do that, it makes no difference how often you eat.

In
Chapter 13
you will find practical advice about how to stock your refrigerator and kitchen cabinets, substitutions for the foods you are accustomed to eating, cooking techniques, and more. You might wish to scan that chapter and the recipes in
Chapter 15
for ideas as you get started.

As long as you follow the basic rules on
page 210
, you are taking part in the Starch Solution and can expect to achieve results. The
only imperatives are that you eat plenty of starch, supplemented with fruits and vegetables, avoid vegetable oils and animal-based foods, and eat rich foods like nuts, seeds, minimally processed soy products, and dried fruits and juices in moderation, if at all. The less of these richer foods you eat, the more dramatic your weight loss and health improvement will be. If you are already at your desired weight, or are underweight, you can use these richer plant foods to keep your weight in check.

DAY 1

Breakfast:
Super Simple Overnight Cereal
with fresh blueberries

Lunch:
Eggless Egg Salad
on whole wheat bread with lettuce and sliced tomatoes

Dinner:
Bean and Corn Enchiladas
, tossed green salad with low-fat dressing or seasoned vinegar,
Decadent Chocolate Pudding

DAY 2

Breakfast:
Hash Brown Potatoes
with barbecue sauce, ketchup, or fresh salsa; sliced fresh fruit

Lunch:
McDougall Veggie Burger
on a whole wheat bun with lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and ketchup and/or mustard

Dinner:
Tunisian Sweet Potato Stew
, brown rice, steamed broccoli,
Peach-Oatmeal Crisp

DAY 3

Breakfast:
Fluffy Pancakes
with pure maple syrup and sliced bananas

Lunch:
Festive Dal Soup
with whole wheat bread