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s_smiadak's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 This was a hard book to read because it went through study after study and could have been more concise but the information is important and worth understanding. His conclusions are basically that dietary fat is not a cause of obesity or any other chronic disease but rather our problem is carbohydrates because of their effect on insulin secretion and how it disrupts a body's homeostasis. The more refined and easily digestible the carbs/sugars/starches, the worse havoc they wreak on our bodies. Carbs also increase hunger and decrease our energy/physical activity.
I appreciate how he dispels the notion that obesity is just due to a person's lack of control and/or laziness and instead defines it as a disorder of excess fat accumulation due to hormone imbalance/disregulation in adipose tissue. Again, he concludes that because carbohydrates stimulate insulin secretion, they are the leading factor causing us to synthesize and store fat ultimately causing obesity.
I appreciate how he dispels the notion that obesity is just due to a person's lack of control and/or laziness and instead defines it as a disorder of excess fat accumulation due to hormone imbalance/disregulation in adipose tissue. Again, he concludes that because carbohydrates stimulate insulin secretion, they are the leading factor causing us to synthesize and store fat ultimately causing obesity.
vnessreads's review
3.0
"Good Calories, Bad Calories" makes strong points, but it's way too thick for a general audience. So. Much. Research.
I'm generally on board with the author's conclusions (below), though they are counter to current USDA nutrition recommendations. I've become convinced through a mix of reviewing scientific and medical research (primarily on the gut, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders), watching documentaries, and experimenting with my own diet. I appreciate the case the author makes and find his logic and criticisms of the mainstream interpretation of nutrition science sound, but can't imagine a casually interested reader making it through this tome.
I'd recommend the intro and a fast-forward to Taubes's "inescapable"conclusions:
1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease, or any other chronic disease of civilization.
2. The problem is the carbohydrates in the diet, their effect on insulin secretion, and thus the hormonal regulation of homeostasis—the entire harmonic ensemble of the human body. The more easily digestible and refined the carbohydrates, the greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being.
3. Sugars—sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup specifically—are particularly harmful, probably because the combination of fructose and glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels while overloading the liver with carbohydrates.
4. Through their direct effect on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease and diabetes. They are the most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and the other chronic diseases of civilization.
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior.
6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.
7. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this balance.
8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated—either chronically or after a meal—we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel.
9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be.
10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.
I'm generally on board with the author's conclusions (below), though they are counter to current USDA nutrition recommendations. I've become convinced through a mix of reviewing scientific and medical research (primarily on the gut, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders), watching documentaries, and experimenting with my own diet. I appreciate the case the author makes and find his logic and criticisms of the mainstream interpretation of nutrition science sound, but can't imagine a casually interested reader making it through this tome.
I'd recommend the intro and a fast-forward to Taubes's "inescapable"conclusions:
1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease, or any other chronic disease of civilization.
2. The problem is the carbohydrates in the diet, their effect on insulin secretion, and thus the hormonal regulation of homeostasis—the entire harmonic ensemble of the human body. The more easily digestible and refined the carbohydrates, the greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being.
3. Sugars—sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup specifically—are particularly harmful, probably because the combination of fructose and glucose simultaneously elevates insulin levels while overloading the liver with carbohydrates.
4. Through their direct effect on insulin and blood sugar, refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars are the dietary cause of coronary heart disease and diabetes. They are the most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and the other chronic diseases of civilization.
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior.
6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger.
7. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this balance.
8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated—either chronically or after a meal—we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel.
9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be.
10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.
margaretmechinus's review against another edition
2.0
The history of Obesity research- or what passed for research. Interesting up to a point but then I had to skim and move along. In the Epilogue he finally gets to his point, but took way too long to get there.
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior. 6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger. 7. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this balance. 8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated—either chronically or after a meal—we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel. 9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be. 10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.”
— Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating, and not sedentary behavior. 6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter, any more than it causes a child to grow taller. Expending more energy than we consume does not lead to long-term weight loss; it leads to hunger. 7. Fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal regulation of adipose tissue and fat metabolism. Fat synthesis and storage exceed the mobilization of fat from the adipose tissue and its subsequent oxidation. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this balance. 8. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated—either chronically or after a meal—we accumulate fat in our fat tissue. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and use it for fuel. 9. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. The fewer carbohydrates we consume, the leaner we will be. 10. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.”
— Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
mashleypotatoes's review against another edition
2.0
Some interesting information, but what a dense, boring, slog of a book.
klarastan's review against another edition
4.0
Anyone who is interested in nutrition, biology, bodies, or such related topics: this book is worth a read. Fascinating and convincing presentation of how academic theories (which is how all of our ideas about nutrition started out) become accepted as fact (from personal experience, it usually depends a lot on who is yelling the loudest and has the loudest contingency at conferences); the actual science-y bits are also fascinating!
lasidar's review against another edition
5.0
To me, this book is a must read for anyone who is the least bit interested in nutrition and dietary health. Taubes lays out the history of nutrition of the last 100 years, how we got to the current "low fat, 'healthy' diets of today", and the flawed thinking that led us there. He also lays out the hypothesis for the low-carb/high-fat approach to weightloss, why it works, and all the evidence to back it up.
eisneun's review against another edition
2.0
There are really two important issues in this book: weight control, and disease. I personally think that being significantly overweight is the cause of a huge amount of our medical problems and that it is *obviously* true -- no one needs to read a book to figure that out. So the real question is, If I am of normal weight and feel well, is my diet causing me harm "under the surface," so to speak?
Although Taubes refers to a lot of studies (which as a non expert, I have to take his word on his interpretation), one thing that kept nagging me is the similarity of his narrative to typical conspiracy theory thinking; namely, a wide and far-reaching group of scientists and doctors around the world are anti-meat and pro-carbs, and for some reason are creating biased research results, and have been for a long time. Of course, the government is also involved, as always.
Personally, I have only been mildly overweight a few times in my life (I'm in my 50s), and I lost that weight by restricting calories, but eating whatever I wanted. But around the age of 48 (a few years ago) I was slowly gaining weight and one day was horrified that I had gained about 20 lbs in about 2 years. One day, I started to diet -- no particular diet, just eating a lot of eggs, lots of salads with low calorie dressing, and a little bit of chicken or fish in the evening, keeping calories to 1600 -1700 a day and walking a few miles most days. I was astonished that I lost 23 lbs in about 6 weeks. I have kept most of that off in the more than 2 years since, eating anything I want but keeping track of calories every day. (I should add that I eat very little processed food or fast food, and rarely eat snacks. My only dietary vice is craft beer, and I drink a bottle or two most days).
I have tried low-carbs, high-carbs, vegan and damn near everything else, though not really to loose weight, but to feel healthy. Whether I ate mostly meat, mostly veggies, pasta everyday, or whatever, as long as I kept intake below about 2000 calories (and exercised a few days a week), I maintained the same weight.
So after slogging through Taubes' enormous tome, I am simply not convinced that the kind of calorie matters at all as far as weight and how you feel. Both high-protein diets and high veggie diets made me feel sub-par. Furthermore, there just seems to be tons of evidence that high meat, high fat, high sugar intake is really bad for you in the long term.
In the end, I think I wasted my time on this book. I was hoping for more than just (mostly) conspiracies and criticisms of what is the generally accepted healthy diet.
I'll just continue what seems to work and make sense to me: don't eat too much, try to eat non-processed food as much as possible, and balance intake of meat and carbs to where it makes you feel good, and you should find whatever works for you and stick to it.
Although Taubes refers to a lot of studies (which as a non expert, I have to take his word on his interpretation), one thing that kept nagging me is the similarity of his narrative to typical conspiracy theory thinking; namely, a wide and far-reaching group of scientists and doctors around the world are anti-meat and pro-carbs, and for some reason are creating biased research results, and have been for a long time. Of course, the government is also involved, as always.
Personally, I have only been mildly overweight a few times in my life (I'm in my 50s), and I lost that weight by restricting calories, but eating whatever I wanted. But around the age of 48 (a few years ago) I was slowly gaining weight and one day was horrified that I had gained about 20 lbs in about 2 years. One day, I started to diet -- no particular diet, just eating a lot of eggs, lots of salads with low calorie dressing, and a little bit of chicken or fish in the evening, keeping calories to 1600 -1700 a day and walking a few miles most days. I was astonished that I lost 23 lbs in about 6 weeks. I have kept most of that off in the more than 2 years since, eating anything I want but keeping track of calories every day. (I should add that I eat very little processed food or fast food, and rarely eat snacks. My only dietary vice is craft beer, and I drink a bottle or two most days).
I have tried low-carbs, high-carbs, vegan and damn near everything else, though not really to loose weight, but to feel healthy. Whether I ate mostly meat, mostly veggies, pasta everyday, or whatever, as long as I kept intake below about 2000 calories (and exercised a few days a week), I maintained the same weight.
So after slogging through Taubes' enormous tome, I am simply not convinced that the kind of calorie matters at all as far as weight and how you feel. Both high-protein diets and high veggie diets made me feel sub-par. Furthermore, there just seems to be tons of evidence that high meat, high fat, high sugar intake is really bad for you in the long term.
In the end, I think I wasted my time on this book. I was hoping for more than just (mostly) conspiracies and criticisms of what is the generally accepted healthy diet.
I'll just continue what seems to work and make sense to me: don't eat too much, try to eat non-processed food as much as possible, and balance intake of meat and carbs to where it makes you feel good, and you should find whatever works for you and stick to it.