It was appropriate, then, that I found the following quotation from Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) in John A. McDougall, M.D.'s 1985 book about diet and lifestyle, McDougall's Medicine: A Challenging Second Opinion:
Whenever a new discovery is reported to the Scientific world, they say first, "It is probably not true."McDougall's "new discovery," which he was disappointed hadn't been immediately accepted as certainly true and important (and to salve which disappointment he seems to have been in need of Montaigne's help), was that
Thereafter, when the truth of the new proposition has been demonstrated beyond question, they say, "Yes, it may be true, but it is not important."
Finally, when sufficient time has elapsed to fully evidence its importance, they say, "Yes, surely it is important, but it is no longer new."
the diet and lifestyle which best supports your natural tendencies to heal and stay healthy...is based around proper foods, moderate exercise, adequate sunshine, pure air and water, and surroundings comfortable to your psychological well-being.This dawning calls on me to revise my eating choices, as my theological dawning called on me to amend what I believed about God.
The primary component, the diet, is centered around a variety of starchy plant foods such as rice, potatoes, and pastas with the addition of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. Animal-derived foods and plant products that are refined or otherwise processed are not health-supporting....[p. 307, from "A Brief Summary of the McDougall Plan"]1
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- It is interesting to note that Dr. McDougall's views on health are compatible with those of Dr. Nortin M. Hadler, author of (for example) Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America, and that Dr. Hadler is scheduled to be at Dr. McDougall's Advanced Study Weekend, February 19-21, in Santa Rosa, California.
Santa Rosa is just fifteen miles from where I went to elementary school and was taught what I should eat and believe.
