Dr. McDougall vs. the AHA

[Guest guest]

This article appeared in the current edition of the McDougall

Newsletter. Dr. McDougall is addressing an issue he has with the

AHA: they refuse to admit that vegetable proteins are perfectly

adequate for human health and have made statements to the contrary.

If you have time, please e-mail the addresses in the article asking

them to retract their statement.

Thanks.

Karen

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BTW - You can get this newsletter free by e-mail. Go to the website

DrMcDougall.com for more info.

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Change History & Save Lives: Write to the American Heart Association

 

Would you like to help me change history and save lives, and prove

how powerful concerned people can be through the Internet?

 

The Nutrition Committee of the American Heart Association (AHA) and

the journal of the American Heart Association, Circulation, have so

far failed to take action to correct an error in basic science. Your

letters to those responsible will make a difference.

 

This letter is divided into the following sections for convenient

reading:

 

1) Here's the Problem:

2) Here is Your Chance to Help:

3) History of Events:

4) Example of Letter to Circulation:

 

 

1) Here's the Problem:

 

You visit your doctor and boldly tell him/her you are a vegetarian.

What's the response?

 

" You're not getting enough protein and plant foods are deficient in

amino acids. You can't stay on that diet. You'll get sick. Your

children will die. Eat some meat. Drink some milk. "

 

Unfortunately, the Nutrition Committee of the AHA presently promotes

this incorrect information to your doctor. For many people, the

result will be a diet filled with meat and dairy products that

promotes disease and obesity – in order " to get all your protein and

amino acids. "

 

The truth is all unrefined starches and vegetables provide all the

essential amino acids (and complete proteins) to meet the needs of

men, women, and growing children (Children should be breast fed until

2 years old). Further along in this article you will find a detailed

discussion of the events that have so far transpired.

 

2) Here is Your Chance to Help:

 

Now it is your turn to be heard. Tell those responsible how you feel

about the Nutrition Committee of the AHA spreading misinformation to

you and your doctor about basic human nutritional needs and the

adequacy of plant foods. Tell them you would like this issue

addressed in a public forum.

 

This matter is of vital interest for all of you concerned about the

health of people worldwide – so now is your chance to speak out to

people who will hear you. Don't miss this opportunity – it may be a

long time before such a well-recognized and well-respected body of

experts is caught in keeping the truth from the public. Write:

 

James T. Willerson, MD, Editor of Circulation c/o

Suzy.Lanier

 

Dr. Barbara Howard, head of the AHA Nutrition Committee c/o

Barbara.v.howard

 

Sachiko T. St Jeor, RD, lead author of the original article c/o

sach

 

Other authors of the original article are:

 

Elaine Prewitt Rd, DrPH c/o tprewit

 

Terry Bazarree PhD c/o tbazzarre

 

Robert H. Eckel, MD c/o Robert.eckel

 

You should also write to your local newspaper, magazines, such as

Time and Newsweek, your congressmen, and national talk shows, such as

Oprah. This is an opportunity to correct a lie that keeps millions

of people from a truly healthy plant-based diet.

 

3) History of Events:

 

This all began with an article on the hazards of high protein diets

published in Circulation on October 9, 2001. The Nutrition Committee

of the AHA wrote, " Although plant proteins form a large part of the

human diet, most are deficient in 1 or more essential amino acids and

are therefore regarded as incomplete proteins. " This is not true.

 

I wrote a letter to the editor which was published in the June 25,

2002 issue of the journal Circulation that corrected this error and

provided the scientific research that showed plant foods supply all

of the essential amino acids for human health. People avoid plant-

based diets because of this misinformation, and become sick and die

as a result.

 

Rather than admit the error (or show me that I was in error by

scientific research), the head of the Nutrition Committee, Barbara

Howard, PhD, assured everyone in a letter accompanying mine (June 25,

2002) (without a single scientific reference) that they were right

and " most (plant foods) are deficient in one or more essential amino

acids. "

 

On July 11, 2002 I wrote the editor of Circulation to ask for a

timely, honest and professional response from the Nutrition Committee

of the AHA – requesting they either admit their error in public or

provide evidence that plants are indeed deficient in amino acids. To

date the Nutrition Committee has not responded.

 

On July 23, 2002 I received a letter from the Managing Editor of

Circulation Suzy Lanier explaining their plan to bury the issue by

publishing my concerns and the AHA Nutrition Committee's response in

the online Correspondence section of Circulation – where no one will

see it.

 

On July 23, 2002, I wrote a second letter insisting this matter not

be covered up. "

 

The journal Circulation has had ample time and opportunity to correct

(what I believe is an attempted cover-up of) an error in basic

science, and has refused to do so to date.

 

You can review my letters with the AHA by clicking on the highlighted

words in the above sentences.

 

4) Example of Letter to Circulation:

 

Here is an example letter that was written to Circulation by one

concerned person:

 

Editor, Circulation

Barbara Howard, PhD and other co-authors

of " Statement for Health Professionals "

 

 

In a letter to the editor published in the June 25, 2002 issue of the

American Heart Association Journal, Circulation (105:197), Dr. John

McDougall asked for a correction of a statement by the Nutrition

Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and

Metabolism of the AHA. The Statement for Health Professionals

published in Circulation issue 104 in 2001 contained the following

sentence questioned by Dr. McDougall: " Although plant proteins form a

large part of the human diet, most are deficient in one or more

essential amino acids and are therefore regarded as incomplete

proteins. " Although Dr. McDougall's argument was compelling and

documented with scientific citations, the rebuttal by Barbara Howard,

PhD, representing the committee, lacked both of these qualities.

Instead of providing scientific support for the committee's statement

or admitting its error and making a correction, Dr. Howard, in a

combination of circular reasoning and appeal to authority rather than

science, compounded the problem by stating " ...we did carefully state

that 'most' are deficient in one or more essential amino acids. "

 

This myth about the " deficiency " of most plant proteins was

inadvertently promulgated with the publication in 1971 of Diet for a

Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe. In a later edition of this book

(1991), Mrs. Lappe says this misconception came about because

she " assumed " that the only way to get adequate protein was to create

a protein as usable by the body as animal protein by combining

complementary plant proteins. In later editions she clearly corrects

the misinterpretation that plant protein is " deficient " by noting

that all plant foods usually consumed as sources of protein contain

all 8 essential amino acids, and that humans are virtually certain of

getting enough protein from plant sources such as unprocessed complex

carbohydrates and vegetables if they get sufficient calories.

 

It is likely that the committee's information on deficient plant

protein came from the above source in whatever roundabout way. I hope

the Nutrition Committee and the Editor of Circulation will quickly

follow Mrs. Lappe's example and correct their error or support their

disputed conclusion in a more rigorous and scientific way. In a time

when Americans are losing trust in many of our corporate leaders,

this action is not only important for the health of all Americans,

but also to preserve the integrity of a prestigious journal such as

Circulation.

 

Sincerely,

Thomas Spradley