For those of you who have been following the plant-based diet world for any length of time, certain names will come to mind, like Ornish, Esselstyn, Barnard, and McDougall.
I personally have been following Dr. John McDougall for quite a few years now. One day while discussing some vegan article on Facebook, an old acquaintance of mine asked if I had Kaiser Insurance. I did - and had just switched as a matter of fact. Why? Because his wife had a Doctor - here in Portland - by the name of McDougall.
But Dr. McDougall is in California! What gives?!
What I didn't know was his son, Craig, is ALSO a Doctor and practices here in my own backyard.
I switched to him immediately - no questions asked. Not only a vegan doctor, but Dr McDougall's very own son. Wow.
To date - I can honestly say I've only met the guy once - but he was very nice, and very personable, and I get the feeling a lot of his patients are fans of both him and his dad 🙂
I also hear he has a lot of very healthy patients....
The following text was pulled directly from his bio on the Kaiser Website.
Dr. Craig S. McDougall, MD
I was born on the island of Oahu, Hawaii and raised in Northern California after the age of five. My father, a physician, introduced me to medicine. Originally it was the love for the sciences that drew me to medicine. However, once I was in medical school, I learned the greatest rewards of this profession come from knowing other people personally and helping them live better lives.
I met my wife during medical school at Ohio State University. We both completed residency training at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) where we fell in love with Oregon. So far we have been blessed with one daughter.
My interests outside of medicine include kite surfing, snowboarding, golfing, hiking, and spending time with my family.
About My Practice
I place a strong emphasis on prevention and treating problems at their cause. I reserve prescribing medications and surgeries as a last resort. I believe diet is the cause of most common diseases, including overweight, high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes.
I recommend that my patients eat a starch-centered diet, supplemented with fruits and vegetables. I also encourage my patients to eat less meat, dairy foods, and limit refined oils. You might think of this as a plant-based, vegetarian, or vegan diet.
With diet, it is important to also be physically and mentally active. My number one practice goal is to help my patients become healthy.
How I Thrive
Outside of my work, I spend as much time as possible with my daughter and wife. We enjoy being outdoors in the clean air and sunshine, walking our dog and working around our home. We travel to Hood River in the summer for kite surfing, and in the winter to the Mt Hood area to play in the snow.
We maintain our family's health with the same recommendations I give to my patients: a healthy diet, reasonable sunshine and exercise, and clean habits.
Image Source: Kaiser Permanente
Shreya Prabhu
This article is so great. I live in Hillsboro and was just listening to an older talk by Dr. John Mcdougall where he mentioned his son working in the northwest. Your post helped me confirm who that was.
I also wanted to thank you for the 21 lbs in 2021 challenge that you post about. Its been really inspiring for me on my off days to watch your honest posts and progress videos and to get back on track. Wishing you all the very best!
Janet Shaffer
Dr. Creg McDougall
Three years ago I came across an article on YouTube by your dad. I have been searching for answers to my most unusual case of diabetes. There I found out about type 1.5 diabetes. I cried and cried with joy to have found a possible answer to the type of diabetes I have. I slowly and consistently went from 300 pounds to 160 pounds over a ten-year period, Without trying. My general doctor and my endocrinologist doctor did not know anything about the 1.5 type of diabetes. I had to explain it to them per your father’s video on YouTube. I have questions on how to keep my pancreas from producing less insulin , with diet. . Wondering if going dairy free would prolong the life of my pancreas function. I give myself six units of insulin ,long acting, once a day and that’s all I need now. I very much want to keep from losing more pancreatic function of producing insulin as best I can.
Please point me in the right direction.
I live at Quincy Illinois. Thank you
Chuck Underwood
I am not Craig McDougall, and I am not a doctor, but I will say - according to all the research I've seen - that going completely dairy-free is probably in your best interest.