Seeing the body's ability to recover from years of bad eating habits is what galvanizes McDougall in his work. When you stop doing the things that make you sick, the body heals itself. There's a repeated injury caused by uncontrolled eating. Stop that behavior and the healing processes catch up. For many patients who come to McDougall's clinic, habits have been a lifetime in the making.
Patients learn about exercise, including simple things like morning walks or afternoon swims.
They are taught what foods to eat, how to shop for and prepare them, and how to order a healthful selection of food when eating out. McDougall claims amazing results in less than two weeks. He says patients with high blood pressure leave without need of medication. Those who have chronically used laxatives and antacids no longer need them, cholesterol counts drop by 30 points or more, and patients lose four to eight pounds without missing a meal. His research has found that 67 percent of the patients are still on the plan after the first year.