Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes

But they can also become repetitive and wearying. Taubes’s tales of lame science and flawed laboratory tests are at times brilliant and enlightening. Good Calories, Bad Calories goes a long way toward breaking the link between obesity, gluttony and sloth by demonstrating that genes, hormones and chemistry play as much of a role in weight gain as behavior does. Once again, Taubes shows, conventional wisdom wins out. some that it might accelerate weight gain and some that it has no effect whatsoever.” Yet the latest government dietary guidelines, released in 2005, recommend 60 to 90 minutes a day of moderately intense exercise and a low-calorie diet to achieve weight loss. According to a 2000 review of the medical literature, “some studies imply that physical activity might inhibit weight gain. For instance, nutritionist Jean Mayer persuaded Americans that exercise leads to weight loss when in fact, writes Taubes, exercising may increase hunger and calorie intake. He also reveals how charismatic personalities can force the acceptance of unproven theories. For example, he charges that when scientists figured out how to measure cholesterol in the blood, they became “fixated on the accumulation of cholesterol in the arteries as the cause of heart disease, despite considerable evidence to the contrary.” Taubes is a relentless researcher, shining a light on flaws in the scientific literature. Carbohydrates, particularly refined ones like white bread and pasta, raise insulin levels, promoting the storage of fat. Obesity is caused, he argues, not by the quantity of calories you eat but by the quality. In Good Calories, Bad Calories, Taubes tries to bury the idea that a low-fat diet promotes weight loss and better health.

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes