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More than 90 people joined us for a weekend punctuated by high spirits, friendship, fabulous food, and mind-expanding education.  The purpose of the “Advanced Study” weekend is to explore new ideas about diet/lifestyle and your health – bringing in fresh speakers with challenging points of view.

Howard Lyman, author of “The Mad Cowboy,” gave two emotionally charged presentations.  During his first presentation we learned about the battle waged by the Cattlemens’ Association against himself and against TV personality, Oprah Winfrey – eventually, after multiple legal battles, the beef industry lost.  Howard’s second talk was on the damage to our precious environment caused by the wasteful eating habits of Americans.

Dr. Katherine Milton, anthropologist from UC Berkeley, explained why we humans always were (essentially) pure-vegetarian, based on our anatomy and physiology -- developed through eons of evolution of primates on  a plant-based diet (See my July 2003 Newsletter article “Meat in the Human Diet” for more on this.)

Dr. Anthony Sebastian, from the University of California San Francisco Medical School, discussed the years of research he has carried out on how the acid from our foods (primarily from meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and grains) dissolves our skeleton, resulting in kidney stones and osteoporosis.

Cardiologist Pieter Vandenhoven explained the workings of the heart and blood vessels to a captivated audience – and most importantly, he gave us a plan for how to keep from becoming his patient.

Ross Turner, our humorist, did a fine job of roasting everyone in sight.

The McDougall Staff also gave some never-heard-before lectures:

Doug Lisle, PhD talked about “Looking for Health in All the Wrong Places,” Jill Nussinow, RD (chief cooking instructor) gave a new slide presentation on “Spicing up Your Meals for Springtime.”  John McDougall, MD held the audience’s attention with three new lectures: First, about the low-carb madness that has swept the modern world; second, about the optimal diet for health and healing; and finally, he showed new slides for his lecture about taking a trip through the gastrointestinal tract (more funny than gross).

As always the food was marvelous and Mary added many new recipes.  Guests were surprised and delighted to try three desserts after the first dinner (two on the second night).  This was not a weekend designed for Maximum Weight Loss – but rather for Maximum Enjoyment – my guess is that even with all that food, no one gained an ounce.

As an added bonus the McDougalls’ new grandson, 4-month-old Jaysen, attended and provided a shining example of how healthy and alert a baby breast-fed by a vegan mother (Heather) should be.

Please join us for some of our future events:

• June 11-20 – 10-day McDougall Program
• July 24-July 31 – Costa Rica Vacation
• August 13-22 – 10-day McDougall Program
• September 10-19 – 10-day McDougall Program
• September 24-26 – 100% McDougall Staff Teaching Weekend
• October 15-24 – 10-day McDougall Program
• November 12-21 – 10-day McDougall Program
• January 2005 – Advanced Study Weekend

2004 John McDougall All Rights Reserved