Dr. McDougall's Audio Podcast "McDougallCast"

In this interview with KPFT's Janice Blue, the host of “Go Vegan Texas,” Dr. McDougall comments on the May 21, 2007 New York Times opinion article (“Death by Veganism” by Nina Planck) about a six-week-old baby whose death was attributed to a vegan diet. Dr. McDougall submitted a rebuttal letter to the Times (see the May 2007 McDougall Newsletter) addressing the many errors in Ms. Planck's piece, including the true sources of protein, essential amino acids, minerals, and vitamins. In this interview, Dr. McDougall discusses why he feels “Planck did us a favor” by putting her opinion out there. “This has gotten people's attention, and gotten them to talk about the truth,” says Dr. McDougall, who notes that the politics around food generally make intelligent debate difficult.

Dr. Thomas Graboys, associate professor of medicine at Harvard, and the director of the Lown Cardiovascular Center, discusses the epidemic of open-heart surgery programs, stating that half of all coronary bypass surgeries performed are unnecessary. In this 1993 interview, Dr. Graboys points out that only a minority of patients with atherosclerosis actually needs heart surgery and angioplasty, and that surgeries of this type are increasing due to the economic lifeblood they provide to hospitals. While economics play a major part in this trend, Dr. Graboys also feels that heart surgeries are often perceived as quick “fix-it” solutions by the general public. Dr. Graboys discusses how atherosclerosis can be “significantly reversed” through lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, not smoking, etc.) and the careful use of certain medications. Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

During the 20 years prior to this 1994 interview, Dr. James Balch, a urology specialist and surgeon, incorporated a strong nutritional focus into his practice, and states, “It's too expensive to get sick.” Dr. Balch and his wife Phyllis have authored two books, Prescription for Nutritional Healing and Prescription for Cooking and Dietary Wellness, focusing on the connections between certain foods and the promotion of good health and healing. Dr. Balch, helping patients to avoid the “pill for every ill” trap, advocates a mostly vegetarian diet and the use of supplements, juices and herbs for overall good health. In this interview, Dr. Balch also talks to callers about co-enzyme Q-10 and colon cleansing.Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

Jack LaLanne, often referred to as “the godfather of fitness,” became interested in health at age 15, after becoming frustrated with his own appearance and feelings of ill health. In 1936 he opened the “nation's first modern health studio” at age 21 in Oakland, California, noting in his biography, “By then I knew more about the workings of the muscles in my body than most doctors.” During college LaLanne studied pre-med and graduated chiropractic college, but was far more interested in helping others through prevention. In the early 1950's, via the new medium of television, his healthful messages and reputation spread like wildfire. In this 1994 interview with Dr. McDougall, LaLanne, 79 and a vegetarian, speaks passionately about his love of fitness and nutrition. “I could never have done it without nutrition,” says LaLanne. Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

Pediatrician Dr. Jay Gordon discusses some of the controversies surrounding the health of children, regarding: breast feeding, childhood obesity, immunizations, and antibiotics. As the author of Good Food Today, Great Kids Tomorrow: 50 Things You Can Do for Healthy, Happy Children, Dr. Gordon says that most families are not well informed when it comes to feeding their children. “We've got a huge mountain of scientific evidence and this thimbleful of folk wisdom that our parents gave us about eating, and we use the thimble and ignore the evidence that says you can feed your children better,” says Gordon, who advocates a “clean diet” of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and pastas for children. In this 1993 interview with Dr. McDougall, Gordon also talks about the detrimental effects of too much protein and calcium in children's diets.Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

Dr. Virgil Hulse discusses his concerns about cow's milk being infected with the Bovine leukemia and AIDS viruses. The drinking of this milk by children, he says, is one of the "greatest public health threats of our century." He also adds that many dead, diseased dairy cattle are sent to rendering plants where they are ground up and used in feed for other cows. “We're making cannibals out of cows who are meant to eat alfalfa. It's just not common sense,” said Dr. Hulse. In this 1993 interview, Dr. Hulse also discusses issues around pasteurization vs. raw milk, fat-free milk, salmonella, E coli, and Mad Cow disease. Dr. Hulse is a former California dairy inspector and has two masters' degrees in public health: milk and food technology, and epidemiology of cancer.Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

In this interview from 1995, Dr. Roy Swank, 86, discusses his groundbreaking work in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) through a low-fat diet. Dr. Swank's early research was driven by the discovery that during WWII, MS suffers in Denmark and Switzerland actually got better since the rich foods they normally consumed were rationed, forcing them to eat a lower-fat diet. As the head of the Division of Neurology at the University of Oregon Medical School for over 22 years, Swank authored The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book and The Swank Low-Fat Diet, in which he makes the statement, “All of the really great feats of physical endurance in history have been accomplished by men who, from infancy, have consumed a diet containing very little fat…chiefly grains, fruits, vegetables.” Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

Dr. Agatha Thrash is the author of Home Remedies, Natural Remedies, and Nutrition for Vegetarians, as well as other books on chronic fatigue, infertility, children's health, allergies, and charcoal therapies. Dr. Thrash, a pathologist and family doctor who runs the Uchee Pines Institute in Seale, Alabama, and advocates a low-fat, pure vegetarian diet. She offers simple remedies, many of which can be self-administered and supported through consistency in diet, exercise, and sleep. “We try to heal people with things that aren't going to harm the body,” says Dr. Thrash, who promotes the benefits of regular exercise for chronic fatigue, a vegetarian diet for allergies, and heat therapy for bacterial infections, arthritis, cancer, skin diseases, and infertility. Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

In an interview given before his famous 1996 Oprah appearance, Howard Lyman, the author of Mad Cowboy and a former rancher and feedlot operator, discusses the connections between the standard American diet and heart disease. In 1979, after a tumor on his spinal cord caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down, Lyman re-evaluated how the work he was doing as a fourth-generation rancher using pesticides, herbicides, hormones and medications affected not only his own health, but the health of consumers, animals, and the environment. Here he explains why food production doesn't have to include chemicals, and that through trying to fool Mother Nature, we are now paying a big price. Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

Robert Atkins, world-famous inventor of the Atkins Diet and the author of Diet Revolution, firmly believed modern diets of refined carbohydrates and sugar to be the root of insulin metabolism problems, which contribute to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and coronary heart disease. In this 1990's interview, Dr. Atkins discusses his theories on how obesity is remedied by decreasing insulin levels via the elimination of carbohydrates while continuing to consume primarily high-protein foods, such as meat, fish, fowl, eggs and cheese. Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

Epidemiologist Dr. Charles Wright discusses the findings of his 1995 Lancet article, “Screening mammography and public health policy: the need for perspective” (with C. Barber Mueller). He states that mammography screening continues to be oversold, despite more recent evidence that it does not significantly benefit most women and, in fact, is often harmful and costly. Dr. Wright discusses the controversial reasons why mammograms for screening purposes continue to be recommended, and what women should know about the hype vs. the true nature of breast cancer and quality of life. Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.

Dr. Dean Ornish is the author of the well-known books Eat More Weigh Less and Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease. In this 1993 interview, Dr. Ornish explains his approach to health from a research perspective, utilizing scientific models that doctors are familiar with to present his evidenced-based messages. Having conducted the landmark “Lifestyle Heart Trial,” which looked at the reversal of heart disease, Dr. Ornish trains other doctors to “treat the cause” and make lifestyle changes in real world settings with their patients. Dr. Ornish, who served as President Clinton's doctor while in the White House, discusses why it is easier (and healthier) to make big changes rather than small changes, and how progress is being made with insurance companies and their coverage of lifestyle medicine. Note: This taped interview from “Your Good Health,” hosted by Dr. McDougall has been edited. Any contact information provided during the interviews should be confirmed first since it may have changed since the original taping.