John A. McDougall

John A. McDougall (May 17, 1947 – June 22, 2024) was an American physician and author. He wrote 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.

Background

At the age of 18, McDougall had a stroke. The experience led him to study medicine. McDougall was a graduate of Michigan State University's College of Human Medicine.

McDougall was 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.

In 2018, McDougall received the American College of Lifestyle Medicine 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Diet programs and products

In 2002, McDougall began the McDougall Program at the Flamingo Resort and Spa in Santa Rosa, California. The program 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 90% starch-based.

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

Reception His book The McDougall Plan was on New York Times paperback "Advice, How-to, and Miscellaneous" bestseller list. The plan is classified as a low-fat fad diet in Wardlaw's Perspectives in Nutrition. Sodium intake is restricted and no animal products or added oils are permitted. A review 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. 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.

The American Heart Association (AHA) gave the McDougall diet a 73% score of its alignment with the 2021 AHA Dietary Guidance. They noted that a defining feature of very low-fat diets like the McDougall diet is severe restriction of dietary fat with the avoidance of vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and avocados which is not in alignment with the 2021 AHA Dietary Guidance as there is no restriction on these foods.

Death

McDougall died in his sleep on June 22, 2024, at the age of 77. His family declined to give the cause of death.

Books