Free The Starch Solution by MD John McDougall

science that supports such remarkable healing on my Web site, www.drmcdougall.com .
     
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Spontaneous Healing of Other Diseases
     
    Acne
     
    Asthma
     
    Cholecystitis (gallbladder pain and inflammation)
     
    Cholesterol (high)
     
    Constipation
     
    Diabetes (type 2)
     
    Diarrhea (chronic)
     
    Hypertension
     
    Obesity
     
    The list goes on. You will not be disappointed with your body’s abilities to heal. Give it a chance.
     
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C HAPTER 5
     

The USDA and the Politics of Starch
     
    A s Americans, we place our trust in the United States Department of Agriculture to help us choose foods that will keep us healthy. But does it really have our best interests in mind?
     
    In 2011, the USDA enacted two policies that limit the nation’s consumption of starchy vegetables and grains, the very foods that offer the best hope for addressing our current epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease as well as a host of other medical challenges. These are the foods that have provided the bulk of human sustenance throughout recorded history, that continue to nourish large populations around the globe that cannot afford to put meat, dairy, and processed foods at the center of their plates, and that place the lowest demand on our environment.
     

T HE USDA R ECOMMENDATIONS
    In its January 2011 report,
School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children,
the USDA Committee on Nutrition Standards for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs recommended reducing starchy vegetables, like potatoes and corn, to 1 cup per student per school week. 1 Instead, children are encouraged to eat turkey sausages, cheese omelets,beef egg rolls, hot dogs, hamburgers, pepperoni pizza, roast beef, deli ham, chocolate milk, and margarine. It doesn’t take a nutrition degree to see there’s something terribly wrong here.
     
    The second policy prevents needy families from using WIC coupons to purchase potatoes. 2 The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides vouchers that mothers use to buy food for their families. Only WIC-approved foods may be purchased with the coupons, and the new regulation specifically excludes potatoes from the list. A WIC recipient could use the coupons to load butter, sour cream, and cheese on her baked potatoes, then wash it down with a glass of whole milk, but could not use the coupons to purchase the only healthy part of that meal: the potato itself.
     
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USDA Proposal for School Lunches
     

     
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T HE P ROBLEM WITH THE R ECOMMENDATIONS
    These two policies suggest that limiting access to starches will encourage greater consumption of green, yellow, and orange vegetables. That might seem admirable on its own merits; the more colorful the vegetable,the more vitamins and antioxidants it might contain, and therefore the healthier it might be to eat. But that simplistic argument masks a more complex reality.
     
    Eating more very low-calorie vegetables and fewer starches leaves people feeling hungrier. (Think of a plateful of broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, and pea pods for breakfast.) They will need to eat something else to make up the rest of the calories they need and satisfy their hunger. The easiest way to do that under the USDA recommendations is with meat, dairy, eggs, processed foods, and oils. Not only are these foods at the center of our nation’s worst health problems, but they also are among the most expensive in the supermarket. With a diet high in nonstarchy vegetables, meat, and dairy, families in need won’t have an easy time stretching their food budget to the end of the month.
     
    A national food policy promoting healthy starches would fuel schoolchildren with comforting, familiar foods that please their palates and satisfy their bellies. Instead of filling up on fatty, processed meats and sugary flavored milks, they would fill their bellies with whole grains, beans, and potatoes (starchy vegetables), setting them on a path