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Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It Kindle Edition

4.6 out of 5 stars 7,392

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Taubes stands the received wisdom about diet and exercise on its head.” —The New York Times

What’s making us fat? And how can we change? Building upon his critical work in
Good Calories, Bad Calories and presenting fresh evidence for his claim, bestselling author Gary Taubes revisits these urgent questions. Featuring a new afterword with answers to frequently asked questions.

Taubes reveals the bad nutritional science of the last century—none more damaging or misguided than the “calories-in, calories-out” model of why we get fat—and the good science that has been ignored. He also answers the most persistent questions: Why are some people thin and others fat? What roles do exercise and genetics play in our weight? What foods should we eat, and what foods should we avoid? Persuasive, straightforward, and practical,
Why We Get Fat is an essential guide to nutrition and weight management.

Complete with an easy-to-follow diet.  Featuring a new afterword with answers to frequently asked questions. 

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Award-winning science journalist Taubes follows his Good Calories, Bad Calories (2007) with this eminently more reader-friendly explanation of the dangers of dietary carbohydrates. If the USDA dietary guidelines—recommending that highly caloric grains and carbohydrates comprise 45 to 65 percent of daily caloric intake—are so healthy, why, he asks, has obesity among Americans been on the upswing? Why has this same diet, endorsed by the American Heart Association, not managed to reduce the incidence of heart disease? And, finally, he asks why mainstream health experts continue to promote the notably unscientific notion of “calories in/calories out” as the single focus of weight management? After explaining in layperson’s terms the science that debunks the idea that weight control is a matter of burning more calories than one consumes, Taubes offers an alternative viewpoint: no carbs. While his recommendation to eliminate carbohydrates (grains, fruits, sugars, etc.) from one’s diet is not necessarily a new one, Taubes does present compelling supporting evidence that many, if not all, people should consider at least severely limiting carbohydrates in their diet. --Donna Chavez

Review

“Well-researched and thoughtful . . . Reconsidering how our diet affects our bodies, how we might modify it to be healthier, and being less harsh with those who struggle with their weight are all worthy goals. Taubes has done us a great service by bringing these issues to the table.”
-Dennis Rosen,
The Boston Globe

“Less dense and easier to read [than
Good Calories, Bad Calories] but no less revelatory.”
-Jeff Baker,
The Oregonian

“Taubes’s critique is so pointed and vociferous that reading him will change the way you look at calories, the food pyramid, and your daily diet.”
-
Men’s Journal

“Important . . . This excellent book, built on sound research and common sense, contains essential information.”
-Larry Cox,
Tucson Citizen

“Aggressive . . . An exhaustive investigation.”
-Casey Schwartz,
The Daily Beast

“Passionate and urgent . . . Backed by a persuasive amount of detail . . . As an award-winning scientific journalist who spent the past decade rigorously tracking down and assimilating obesity research, he’s uniquely qualified to understand and present the big picture of scientific opinions and results. Despite legions of researchers and billions of government dollars expended, Taubes is the one to painstakingly compile this information, assimilate it, and make it available to the public . . . Taubes does the important and extraordinary work of pulling it all together for us.”
...

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003WUYOQ6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor; Reprint edition (December 28, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 28, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4423 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 273 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 7,392

About the author

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Gary Taubes
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Gary Taubes is an investigative science and health journalist and co-founder of the non-profit Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI.org). He is the author of Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It and Good Calories, Bad Calories (The Diet Delusion in the UK). Taubes is the recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research, and has won numerous other awards for his journalism. These include the International Health Reporting Award from the Pan American Health Organization and the National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Journalism Award, which he won in 1996, 1999 and 2001. (He is the first print journalist to win this award three times.) Taubes graduated from Harvard College in 1977 with an S.B. degree in applied physics, and received an M.S. degree in engineering from Stanford University (1978) and in journalism from Columbia University (1981).

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
7,392 global ratings
An awesome book that really delves deep into nutrition for the lay person
5 Stars
An awesome book that really delves deep into nutrition for the lay person
Great overview of how people underestimate the cause of fat accumulation. This book provides an argument as to why the in/out method--while easily believable at first--is wrong. This book does a good job at laying it out in terms that everyone can understand. It is an easier-to-read Good Calories Bad Calories. Even if you have read Good Calories Bad Calories, you will most likely get something out of this book--even if it is just a more solid understanding of the same arguments put forward in Good Calories Bad Calories.As a result of being written for a more lay audience, this book is not as well cited. Scientists can read Good Calorie Bad Calories to get the same knowledge presented here that is also backed up with exhaustive citations.Dimensions of the book can be seen in the photos I have attached.Pros:*Easier to read*Still very informativeCons:*NoneOverall: 5/5 stars (>=.5 rounds up, <.5 rounds down) => 5 starsIf you have any further questions regarding the product in my review please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2011
I am a physical trainer in NYC with 15 years experience. I voraciously read nutrition and exercise science journals and books. I recently read "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes. It is a follow up (and somewhat of a clif notes version) to his tome "Good Calorie, Bad Calorie". The author is a science writer for the NYT, Discover and Science. He has an aerospace engineering masters from Stanford and Harvard and a journalism masters from Columbia. He is not a dietitian or doctor but he has a unique ability to read, understand and objectively explain scientific studies. In his books he does not attempt to "sell" a diet (however I'm sure he wants to sell lots of books) supplements, meal plans etc. He aims to take a skeptical look into why we believe what we have been told about nutrition. Most nutritional dogma stems from our government and/or pharmaceutical backed public health policies. His arguments are detailed (more so in "Good Calorie, Bad Calorie") and backed with a plethora of scientific evidence. The following lists some of the irrefutable scientific evidence that he presents :

1- Just thinking about eating carbohydrates (Pasta, cake, rice, ice cream) raises your insulin levels and makes you hungry, or hungrier.
2- Our hormones, enzymes and growth factors regulate ALL of our fat tissue.
3- Most of the carbohydrates we eat in America were not around for 99.9% of the past 2.5 million years. Only in the last 30-40 years have these things, we call food, been in our diet.
4- Men and women fatten differently (women are more predisposed to gaining fat) due mostly to our sex hormones.
5- Fat is continuously flowing out of our fat cells and being used for fuel....and we preferentially store fat even when we are not eating more caloies than we are expending.
6- Science is not clear what our ancestors, prior to the development of agriculture, ate.
7- Current hunter-gather societies get most of their calories (on average about 85%), from animal protein and fat. However (Taubes does not talk about this) these societies walk on average 7-10 miles per day.
8- Carbohydrate rich diets lower your HDL's (good cholesterol) which has a direct causation to heart disease and shorter life-spans.
9- High insulin levels (blood sugar) are caused by carbohydrate intake which in turn causes your body to store fat.
10- You will not store fat (of any significance) when your insulin levels are low even when you are eating fatty foods! In fact when your blood sugar is low you will liberate fat from your fat cells.

Here are some things Taubes states that are controversial (however he supports his statements with lots of relevant research) and quite thought provoking:

1- We do NOT get fat because we overeat. We overeat because we are getting fat. It is more than calories in, calories out.
2- We do not need ANY carbohydrates in our diet (this is a tough one for me to believe, however he provides some good evidence).
3- All exercise makes you hungry and you will replace ALL the calories your burned by eating more. (Obviously, I have some problems with this one too!)
4- Atkins style diet (not the South Beach diet) will lower your risk for heart disease, most cancers, Alzheimer's and diabetes.
5- Eat a diet that is about 3 to 1 ratio of fat to protein and a little carbs if you must.
6- Restricting calories is not a good way to lose fat in the long term.

I think this is a fascinating and accessible science book. I have read countless books on the subjects of exercise, diet, disease, and physiology. I believe, "Why We Get Fat" presents devastating arguments against the popular epidemiological studies that taught low-calorie and low-fat diets for health and weight loss. This book just might shift the pendulum (on its head) about what we know about diet, food and nutrition.

Almost two years ago I drastically lowered my intake of animal protein (I kept eggs and cheese around because they are sooo good!) due to the bonbardment of evidence I was coming across about the dangers of meat (and the ethical concerns with the way we treat the animals we eat). So as a quasi vegetarian I am having a hard time making amends with this book and its seemingly strong arguments for a high fat, high protein low carb diet. I am not totally convinced, but the more I look into the evidence the more I am being swayed.
44 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2011
Taubes' book is one of the most important books ever written on nutrition. There are thousands of books written on diet and obesity, and the overwhelming majority of them are deeply flawed at best. The so-called advice offered (and now even forcibly mandated by public and corporate powers) is also dead wrong, as will be most of those who trust said advice.

There are many thoughts on why this is the case, and many "conspiracy" theories as to how it came about, some with substantial evidence and outright smoking guns. This area of health is rife with disinformation, misinformation, ignorance, and outright lies.

Taubes does not deal with any of that directly. He does something quite different and important: he uses solid research from the hard literature to make his case in a very precise and focused way. The case he makes is airtight and irrefutable, even from the most hard-nosed skeptic's viewpoint.

The first thrust of this book is to show that the old "calories in - calories out" steam engine view of obesity is not only mildly incorrect, it is so very obviously wrong on so many levels as to completely defy rational thought. While he does not deal with the reasons behind this deadly myopia in the professional, corporate, and governmental world, he does systematically dismember this superstitious silliness with glorious logic and hard evidence.

From the misunderstanding of the application of thermodynamic "laws" in biological systems to the research on obesity and disease connections, he deftly leads the reader to a greater understanding of what the real research on obesity actually says, and what that means in terms of personal health and public policy.

His main concentration is on fat metabolism versus carbohydrate metabolism, and how carbs disturb the delicately balanced fat storage mechanism and cause obesity. He describes the research which backs this up, and has for decades and decades, while being totally ignored by most medical and public health officials. He discusses how long some of this research has shown these things and mentions how it has been consistently ignored.

That's right - carbs. Not dietary fat, not sloth, not moral weakness, not any other of the fad social mythology which passes for "evidence" driven policies and public stances. He details the increased understanding from more sensitive and better done research which essentially proves that our great-grandmothers had a better sense of healthy food than almost all the scientists, dieticians, health agency spokescritters, and gurus who have filled our heads with lies for at least 60 years. (And been accessories to the pain and death of millions of wrongly informed people, I hasten to add.)

His focus is completely on the science, and he does not venture into the politics or economic pressures which created this stupid state of affairs (the vitriol here is mine). While he does not discuss it directly, his book does point out the dangers of trusting science to give hard answers to questions of diet and health. As I point out in my review of Weston A.Price's "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration," science will not be able to give us solid answers to dietary questions for at least another 1,000 years, at the snail's pace and myopic style of current research, some of which is clearly discussed in this book.

I do have some quibbles with him: his statement about being about to get adequate vitamin D from exposure to sunlight is over-simplified to the point of being incorrect. He also advises people to use artificial sweeteners instead of sugars, which is extremely bad advice, given the dangers inherent in most of them. He does not mention the impact of MSG on obesity (it causes obesity - MSG is reportedly used to fatten lab animals for obesity experiments). He does not mention experiments on farm animals in the 1940s which showed that the diet which fattened mammals most quickly was one of grains and vegetable oil. He does not go into the differences in saturated fats, and how medium-chain fatty acids are handled differently in the body. He also does not mention that animal fat is a dense source of critical nutrients, and that saturated fat is crucial in triggering satiation, hence limiting appetite, cravings, and overeating.

Given all that, his work is still ironclad and irrefutable even in its narrow focus. Add in all the rest and you have a overwhelming body of evidence which is more than compelling enough to warrant a major investigation into the reasons why this information has been forcibly withheld from the public (causing untold suffering and death).

I gave it 5 stars, not because it is perfect, but because it is so powerful, so right, and so necessary.

Bottom line: everyone should read this book, period. The information here can literally save your life and that of those you love. Doctors, other medical people, dieticians, and others involved in the public sector dealing with nutrition should read this NOW, before they kill any more people through their ignorance.

As Weston A. Price once responded to a question about how to deal with the disinformation around the subject of a healthy diet; "You teach, you teach, you teach."

Get it and spread the word.
588 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful
Reviewed in India on January 29, 2024
Awesome info. Thnx
scott
5.0 out of 5 stars good information
Reviewed in Australia on January 12, 2024
good information
Mark Fox
5.0 out of 5 stars I finally understand
Reviewed in Japan on March 2, 2021
Read this if you want to be healthy. every time I want to eat bad food I remember what the book says and I correct myself.
José Carlos Brasil Peixoto
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente
Reviewed in Brazil on December 20, 2014
Inusitado, instigante e com humor. Agora também em versão traduzida para o português. Uma das melhores publicações sobre o tema.
2 people found this helpful
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Wiemer Snijders
5.0 out of 5 stars Solid and convincing
Reviewed in the Netherlands on May 11, 2016
Insightful, well argumented and backed up with solid evidence. I personally liked that the author is making his case and at the same asks you to stay critical of what you read.
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