"If you want to get fat out of your fat tissue, you have to lower your insulin levels"

It's true - I lost like 25 pounds before they diagnosed me with diabetes. Of course, my vision was gettting blurry and my glucose levels were 15 points short of hospitalization, so it's a balancing act...

Amy, I must thank you for introducing me to Taubes's book. What an impressive, well-written piece of work. I read it about 4 weeks ago, and began eating high-fat, low-carb almost immediately. I've lost over 20 pounds in the four week period; I never get that famished feeling; and I feel generally better in lots of small ways. I'm pushing family members to read it; I plan to buy a couple of copies for others, which I will of course do through your links.

Kishke, thank you for posting that -- it's just wonderful news. I barely eat carbs at all anymore, and it's changed my life. I'll have a dessert when we're out, and I drink wine, but my diet is mostly the following, and as much as I want of any of these:

*bacon
*cheese omelettes
*30 percent fat hamburger, in the big cheap roll in the supermarket with Brie melted on top
*mixture of huge dollop of mayo and garlic aoli mustard on the side to put on the burger so I will have enough fat not to be hungry
*salami (take it in a bag when I leave the house, cut up, so I will have food with me in case I get hungry)
*Trader Joe's 4 percent fat cottage cheese (I buy the big carton, six at a time)
*green beans in olive oil with bacon bits (make a whole big pan of them and eat them almost every meal)
*arugula (non-organic) with olive oil and balsamic and grated cheese
*chicken with skin on it basted with olive oil, with Old Bay on top, garlic clove tucked under the skin (sliced to fit) and a little parmesan at the end
*Gouda, cheddar, Raclette, and other cheeses, as much as I want.

I don't get hungry, I weigh less than I did in high school (and without exercise, although I make sure I exercise an hour a week on my bike anyway, plus lift tiny weights), and I have the energy of a 17-year-old.

I didn't need to eat this way to be thin -- I did a no-carb thing because we were shooting my book cover on four days notice and the camera really does put on 10 pounds -- but I felt so great after eating this way that there was no turning back. I weigh probably eight pounds less than I did when I ate a sort of low-carb diet (oatmeal in the morning and cookies, brownies, ice cream in moderation, plus bread and potatoes here and there), but again, it's how I feel that is so, so amazing.

One thing I'm looking into now is how much vitamin D I should be taking as a sun avoider. Other than calcium, magnesium, and D, I don't take supplements. P.S. I once interviewed Taubes for a column and he told me that meat has every vitamin the human body needs save for vitamin C.

Yeah, but was he stationed in the arctic examining Inuit?

PS- A couple years ago a nutritionist friend said it's best to avoid juice. With the exception of grapes (ahems), I've taken his advice. It was actually pretty easy, and this explains why.

There are many who continue to put on weight if they overeat. Period.

Doesn't matter whether the calorie comes from fat or carbs. Maybe their body's set point for "regulating fat" is very high - a common evolutionary adaptation to our history of scarcity.

And exercise does work to rev up metabolism - further burning fat. Besides having other health benefits.

I am wary of ANY extreme health statements. Most of this stuff is true only up to a point. And there are personal variations in biology - such as insulin response.

It makes sense to drop carbs if you want to lose weight - since refined carbs are pure energy, and you obviously don't need more calories if your body is laying down fat. They're not adding much else to your diet.

And yes - my diet of low carbs, high protein and produce leaves me feeling satisfied and energetic while I consume fewer calories.

But I still need to exercise or I will gain weight at my sedentary day job.

And exercise does work to rev up metabolism - further burning fat.

Cite the studies that back this up, please. Taubes's book is meticulously referenced. He has researched, it appears, every weight-loss study in the past 150 years. He is by no means an extremist. The book is written in a very measured way, and his list of recommendations takes up no more than a half a page (this after about 500 pages of text).

Amy, my diet looks a lot like yours, minus the bacon. Lots of eggs, cheese, yogurt, kefir, fish & meat. Wine occasionally. Nuts & greens. It's great.

I was thin more than half my life. Suddenly, at about thirty I started packing on the pounds, and, having never had to practice disciplined eating, had no idea what to do. Since then, I've tried this and that, but being hungry and eating like a rabbit just doesn't cut it for me. This has been a godsend.

There are many who continue to put on weight if they overeat. Period.

Doesn't matter whether the calorie comes from fat or carbs.

Ben-David, when you know the actual science, feel free to give your wisdom on diet.

People don't want to overeat protein -- it's sickening. I think it was Taubes who made the observation that the equivalent on some level to a small bag of popcorn at the movies was 18 slices of cheese. Who can eat 18 slices of cheese? On the other hand, betcha mow through popcorn like you'll never have another bag again -- perhaps every time you go to the movies.

I make a really huge hamburger for lunch, but at a certain point, I just can't eat anymore. I put the rest in the refrigerator. If I were eating Sun Chips, on the other hand, I could probably eat a rather vast number in short order. The human body didn't evolve to manage massive doses of carbohydrates.

But I still need to exercise or I will gain weight at my sedentary day job.

Bet you eat all sorts of carbohydrates, like potatoes and carrots. Eat like I do and you won't have to exercise, I'm guessing. I don't advocate discontinuing exercise -- an epidemiologist I'm friends with advises that it's especially important, in addition to cardovascular exercise, to do "weight-bearing" exercise (ie, biking or swimming alone is not adequate).

Ben-David: But I still need to exercise or I will gain weight at my sedentary day job.

Amy: Eat like I do and you won't have to exercise, I'm guessing.

You're guess is right. I have a sedentary desk job. I haven't been excercising at all lately. The 20+ pounds I've lost in the last few weeks have come off entirely without exercise. Yes, I know it's important for other reasons, and plan to take it up again, but in my experience, it's got nothing to do with losing weight, and I have heard the same from others too.

Yes, I know it's important for other reasons, and plan to take it up again, but in my experience, it's got nothing to do with losing weight, and I have heard the same from others too.

Exactly. It's one of those widely-held, non-evidence-based myths.

During April, which, for me, is always "the cruelest month," I barely exercised (maybe did 100 minutes total on the bike the whole month, if that), and I dropped weight.

Who can eat 18 slices of cheese?

Depends on the type of cheese and the size of the slices

I have a sister who's struggled with weight issues since she's a kid, always dieting, always exercising. Years ago she told me in all seriousness that she felt her cravings for cookies, sweets etc. was an actual physical addiction. I laughed it off. Now that I've read Taubes, I've stopped laughing. Needless to say, I've told her about the book.

I'm currently researching the role of gut microbes in the energy balance equation (1).

As overfeeding often translates into a measurable increase in thermogenesis, researchers routinely conclude that the body's own metabolic activity is responsible for all the extra heat (2). I'm wondering if a substantial portion of that heat could possibly be generated by an increase in gut microbe activity in response to boosted caloric intake. Gut microbe-generated heat would steadily diffuse into the body contributing to the maintenance of body temperature.

Metabolic chamber measurements are not able to distinguish between gut microbe heat and heat generated by the body's own metabolic activity. Consequently, there is a need for data on the amount of energy expended per gram of dry fecal bacteria. Regarding the percentage of feces comprised of gut microbes, estimates range from 50 to 60 percent.

In an article by Yves Schutz entitled Human overfeeding experiments: potentials and limitations in obesity research I found this interesting observation:

"The first overfeeding studies date back to the early 20th century. The term luxus consumption was proposed when it was thought by early investigators that the body possesses efficient mechanisms to allow dissipation of excess energy into heat and hence can substantially limit weight gain during overfeeding."

I wonder if most of the dissipation of excess energy doesn't take place in the gut itself involving food material that never gets absorbed into the bloodstream. I'm further wondering if there exists a range of caloric intake (500 to 1000 calories depending upon metabolic and physiological makeup) in which weight would remain nearly constant while thermic activity in the gut would vary with changes in caloric intake.

I'm currently searching for data on heat generated per gram of fecal gut microbe material.

1. The current method of accounting for energy consumed, energy absorbed, energy excreted, energy expended, and energy stored does not take into account heat energy generated by the approximately two kilograms of gut microbes that inhabit the digestive tract.

2. http://www.anapsid.org/tracydigestion.html

Some people enjoy running four miles (or more!) each day, and exercise just because they like it. MeMe Roth is a psycho and an idiot, so she's not one of those people, but I love running and feel much better if I go for a run several times a week. I've lost weight and noticed that my skin, hair and nails are healthier with a lot more fat in my diet, but I also eat lot of bread and potatoes and carb-filled produce. I think it's ridiculous to maintain that just one type of diet is right for every person out there. Another interesting food-related book is The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. He writes about Gary Taubes in his book, actually.

I detest the whole concept of "good calories" and "bad calories." And diets that tout "good carbs and bad carbs." There are no good or bad calories. They are all appropriate in their place.

Would you stand at a mile marker of the Boston Marathon and tell one of the runners, "Oh, no! Don't drink that Gatorade! That's a bad carb! Eat this broccoli instead."

The point being is that there are times when a rapidly absorbed carb is the best thing in the world for you. After or during a workout is a great time for it.

I could even recommend a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's for the right event: long-distance swimming.

There was a lot I found eye-opening in the book, but I think the most shocking revelation for me was the utter flimsiness - to the point of non-existence - of the science behind low-cholesterol, low-fat diets.

I have searched a few times for rebuttals to Taubes' book, and found nothing of substance. Has anyone found one worth reading? One that does not dogmatically repeat the conventional wisdom, attack straw men, etc.?

It's like the people who actually read the book either say, "Damn, he's right", or are thrown into such painful cognitive dissonance they just have to put it out of their minds.

Since you mentioned overweight cats, I had to add my comment about that.

I had to put my cat down 3 weeks ago. She was 21 years old (over 100 in people years apparently). She was a perfect weight her whole life, never overate, although she always had access to food. The key to her good health, which I figured out a long time ago, was giving her high quality animal protein. If you looked at the list of ingredients, the first one was always 'chicken', or 'beef', not soy protein or meat byproducts.

I figured that if eating good quality, real food worked for me, it will work for my cat. I eat very similar to Amy, in that I limit my carbs to complex carb on rare occasions, and stick mostly to protein, fat & vegetables.

I don't disagree with what Taubes is saying. It works for most people...people who don't exercise that much.

But for me, I need some carbs early in the day - it helps me concentrate better. It's the kind of carbs I go for that makes the difference, though...always slow cooked oats with cinnamon, walnuts and blueberries (easily done in a microwave, believe it or not!). I also need to exercise 4-5 times a week to keep me mentally sane. If I don't my temper shortens and I'm just lethargic and miserable. I also like having a tight ass.

After a glycogen burning workout you need carbs or else you will lose muscle. Does he address the needs of athletes and bodybuilders? Glycogen-burning = 40+ minutes of hard lifting (not pussy lifting. It needs to burn.) or HIITs (High Intensity Interval Training). This doesn't mean eat a loaf of bread. It means have a roasted sweet potato with olive oil or brown rice (I make pesto and put it on my rice.) with some greens and meat. If I don't workout I don't get carbs. Period. *Except* I can have fruit.

Nutrient timing is huge. If you MUST eat your carbs get them in before noon time.

Thanks for talking about this, Amy. I just joined Precision Nutrition. It's a great program that comes with a cook book and shows you how to structure your diet - which I need because I workout and can't screw around with diet. Theories are great but if anyone needs actual hand-holding when it comes to eating with step by step directions I'd recommend the program. The members-blog is helpful and informative. Once you get into the swing of things it's easier.

Amy, I think I've asked this before but I don't remember if it was answered. When you eat a hamburger, do you eat it on a bun? I really don't know how many carbs are ok. To me, avoiding them completely is impossible. It just rules out too many things that I consider to be "normal" meals. I'm trying to cut down on the obvious things like cereal and sweets. And I admit, my usual diet is way, way high in carbs (I can put away a whole box of cereal in a day if I let myself). Also, if I must have some carbs because they are part of the meal, does eating extra fat help?

Chrissy,

Sorry to hear about your cat. I'm a major cat person (I volunteer at a shelter ever Sunday and get to play with kittens!).

We switched our 14 year old cat to a new food with better protein and give him meat scraps. He lost 5 lbs - which is HUGE on a little animal! Again, he's 14 years old and he's out hunting and running around like a young thing again. Our other cat has an eating disorder or something. He will eat any/everything. Eggs. Peas. Butter. Cake. We don't give him this stuff but if you leave anything on the counter and turn your back for a semisecond he'll jump up and steal it and run away to devour it behind the couch. I've never seen a cat like this in my life. Total piglet.

I wouldn't touch a bun with the plastic bag I use to pick up Lucy's little tootsie rolls. I eat no bread, no cereal, and I only eat tiny desserts when I'm out to dinner somewhere really nice, where the dessert is likely to be great. I used to eat like you do, Karen, but I feel so, so much better eating almost no carbs. And I'm effortlessly very thin!

Sandy Szwarc has some good posts, but she isn't the great reference she seems to be on first glance. If you read her closely, you'll see she thinks sugar is perfectly healthy, too, and that there is no link between western foods and chronic diseases.

Her problems, among many, is she rips observational studies to shreds when they disagree with her all food is good in moderation belief and then accepts them without question if they agree with her all food is good in moderation belief. So if an expert report comes out and says there is no link between fat sugar and whatever and disease, she cites it without question as she does the UN/FAO report in this blog, and if a report comes out saying the opposite, she finds reasons to shred it. We all do this. It's human nature. Szwarc does it to excess.

Karen: I was like you. Before I started low-carbing, a burger w/o a bun was unthinkable, like butter w/o bread. But you get used to it awfully fast. Also, if a naked burger is too off-putting, try wrapping it in a leaf of romaine lettuce with mayo and a slice of onion. It's excellent that way.

Thanks Amy. I guess I will have to do this as a gradual adjustment. I've managed to do really low calorie diets before but they were long-term failures. Taubes book is sort of hard to get through for me (I only have time for reading in short spurts) but I can tell that he has researched this topic very thouroughly.

Amy - I'd love to see a daily breakdown of your diet over the course of a week.

Do you skip meals if you aren't hungry?

What do you think about eating 5 times a day (even if you aren't that hungry) to maintain insulin and metabolic levels? Does Taube address this idea?

Ms. Alkon forgot to mention that fat will also wax your hardwood floors, massage your back, balance your checkbook and soak up more spilled milk than Sham Wow. ;)

Gretchen,
Thanks, it was incredibly hard to make the decision to put her down. She was OK physically (kind of like Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies), but I think she was going senile. She could make it into the litterbox but decided that the location for peeing was unimportant. After rolling up all the carpets and cleaning puddles for a week, I had to do it.

She had the best life though, very structured, spa like conditions, and was a great companion for 21 years.

Amy - I am not saying this isn't true.

"Scientific" findings in biology are true over a bell curve.

Individual human responses are all over the curve. Taubes is describing a biological trend - not a law of physics.

Here in Israel, there are reed-thin Yemenite Jews whose entire diet revolves around pita, jahnun (baked dough) and bread, couscous and other carbs at every meal.

There are others (like this Ashkenazi) who react differently to a high-carb meal.

My diet during the week:
Banana, Orange, and plain yogurt for breakfast.Coffee w/milk, no sugar.

Water and herbal tea between meals.

Lunch is a salad from a local make-your-own salad bar that almost always contains tuna or hard-boiled egg for protein, and can also contain feta or chickpeas in addition to lotsa veggies. I usually take pesto or olive-oil dressing.

I sometimes feel sated about 2/3 through the salad - one very important point was to re-learn that feeling and STOP EATING.

I skip the bread that comes with the meal. If I am working late I take the veggie soup and eat it later - sometimes before going home. This stops snacking.

Nobody else at home had weight issues, and our schedules collide, so there is a lot of snacking and pickup dinner. I usually have a fish or chicken filet, burger, or hot dog with frozen veggies, fresh tomato, and/or "salatim" - Israeli-style savory vegetable sides like eggplant, coleslaw, or grilled peppers in vinaigrette.

No bread or starch.

Yes, I am controlling portions.
Yes, the protein, fat, and fiber make me feel full (the only time I reach for sweets is if I haven't had protein for dinner).

But if I didn't exercise, I simply would not burn even the small amount of calories I am eating. And my energy level and sharpness would decrease.

Taubes argues that there are no fat animals - at least not in the wild. That has less to do with what they're eating and more to do with the reality of scarcity. Many hibernating and migratory animals pack on the fat when food is abundant.

This stuff helps - but only to a point. And the idea that EVERYONE's body will not store fat or protein calories is just wrong - that's a gross simplification of the science. There is always a range in biology.

Certainly a lot of people gained weight in the 70s and 80s because they were eating the high-carb, high-legume "Mediterranean Peasant Diet" being pushed at the time. Part of that was no doubt the insulin reaction - but a large part of it was due to the common-sense fact that they were sedentary white collar Americans, not pre-industrial peasants.

Not many pictures of fat peasants - despite all the beans, potatoes, and bread. So quantity still does count.

But if I didn't exercise, I simply would not burn even the small amount of calories I am eating.

Maybe that's b/c you are eating lots of carbs and sugars: banana, orange, lots of veggies, cole slaw, commercial salad dressings containing corn syrup & sugar. Does your burger or hot dog come in a bun? Add them to the list. You also eat very little saturated fat. Based on the scientific evidence amassed by Taubes (and backed up by my personal experience), avoiding these foods and adding a substantial percentage of saturated fats would cause immediate and dramatic weight loss, without a smidgen of exercise.

I picked up Gary's book yesterday and started reading it in a restaurant over a cheese and bacon omlette. I'm preparing for yet another diet, after exercising regularly for almost a year (and losing about 35 pounds). The thought of counting calories again got me so depressed I felt like crying all the time.

After reading the prologue, what I felt instead was hope...and anger. Let's be honest...no person or corporation who makes their money in the diet industry actually wants to see obesity cured...they would be out of business. Whether through scientific laziness or a conscious effort to deceive, or both, what has happened in this country regarding food is a crime against humanity.

All these years - my entire adult life - I have been blaming myself, believing I'm just a lazy glutton. To think that my overeating may be "a side effect, not the cause" of my obesity is mind-blowing.

I also just finished reading "In Defense of Food".

My head is spinning. But my tummy is happy.

Thanks for the reference and advice, Amy.

I have lost ten pounds in three weeks doing what Taubes recommends. I am also amazed at my energy levels and my lack of cravings. I used to suffer from intense cravings, especially beer and Mexican food. It's a nice kind of freedom not being chained to constant thoughts of food.

I've found that not only do I have far less between-meal hunger and food cravings when following a low-carb eating plan, but I also experience far less anxiety in general. I'm just calmer and more focused.

I've just ramped up committment again to get my weight down another 10 or so pounds, so this reminder is timely. Breakfast this morning: Niman Ranch bacon (the BEST) and a scrambled egg (yes, used a little butter in the pan).

Amy, just one more thank-you for spotlighting Gary Taubes' book here.

I find it hard to cut out carbs entirely, but have cut way back and now know never, ever to eat carbs alone - only in combination with plenty of protein and fat.

As a result I don't get as hungry, and no longer get the light-headed dizzy spells I always used to when I was even slightly hungry. I have tons more energy now and feel miles better.

Plus it's nice not to have to cut delicious cheese and good beef out of the menu :-)

But if I didn't exercise, I simply would not burn even the small amount of calories I am eating.

kishke:
Maybe that's b/c you are eating lots of carbs and sugars: banana, orange, lots of veggies, cole slaw, commercial salad dressings containing corn syrup & sugar.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Veggies contain negligible carbs. The banana and orange - because of the fiber they contain - do not trigger Taubes' insulin reaction because they release sugars gradually.

Does your burger or hot dog come in a bun?
- - - - - - - -
Nope. And no fries either.

I'm eating a lot fewer carbs that Gretchen, going by her description. And probably less than some of the other boosters on this thread.

You also eat very little saturated fat.
- - - - - - - - - -
What do you think most of the salad dressing is - often it's straight olive oil?

What do you think is in the burger? The feta?

Or does Taubes recommend chewing on blubber between meals?

Here's the real point, kishke - in your own words:

Based on the scientific evidence amassed by Taubes (and backed up by my personal experience)
- - - - - - - -
Bingo.

Not everyone is going to respond to this regime the same way.

The idea that an overweight person should eat more saturated fats - and will see a weight loss from it - is ludicrous.

Earlier, Amy said that nobody can binge on high fat foods - "Who can eat 18 slices of cheese?"

I guess they don't have ice cream in LA.

So the weight gain comes from the sugar in the ice cream, hmmm - while our bodies painstakingly discard the fat calories.

NOT.

Eating protein and fat TENDS TO help one feel full. GENERALLY.

And it doesn't produce the insulin or serotonin reactions of carbs.

Thereby helping you to curb overeating and lose weight.

But you still have to control the portions, and burn more calories than you consume.

The idea that we humans - whose ancestors up until very recently faced scarcity and frequent famine - evolved to magically reject calories from the most calorie-rich type of food... is just ridiculous.

I don't know why the diet topic seems to draw this kind of extremism. But it does.

Veggies contain negligible carbs.

Sure. But when they make up most of your diet, they're not so negligible anymore.

The banana and orange - because of the fiber they contain - do not trigger Taubes' insulin reaction because they release sugars gradually.

Just means they're not as bad as refined sugar or flour. They still do cause insulin production, which is the cause of overweight. I'm getting the sense from your comment that you haven't read the book, which means you're pretty much unequipped to dispute it.

You also eat very little saturated fat.
- - - - - - - - - -
What do you think most of the salad dressing is - often it's straight olive oil?

Olive oil is almost entirely monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat. Saturated fat makes up only a small percentage of olive oil.

The idea that an overweight person should eat more saturated fats - and will see a weight loss from it - is ludicrous.

Only from the conventional point of view. Not from the point of view of the actual science, of which you, not having bothered to read the book before commenting on it, are ignorant.

The idea that an overweight person should eat more saturated fats - and will see a weight loss from it - is ludicrous.

I saw weight loss as soon as I cut out not just most carbs but almost all of them. And I now eat piles of saturated fat -- it's why I'm not hungry. I just bought six HUGE containers of Trader Joe's 4 percent milkfat cottage cheese. I mow through those like some people mow through popcorn. Best cottage cheese I've ever had. Today alone, I had two strips of bacon (made in a Corningware dish in the micro, with a lid, to retain the fat) a cheese omelette, and a small slice of cheese around 11:30, when I got a little hungry (I ate breakfast at 7 p.m.). Soon, I'll have a big fat hamburger (30 percent fat) with Brie cheese on top. Note that it's 1:44, I've been writing since 6 a.m., on deadline (meaning tough, high-stress day), and it just occurred to me that I should eat lunch soon because I'm getting a little hungry. Had I eaten a banana for breakfast, or even five, I would have been ravenous long ago.

Here, from the book descrip from Random House -- note where bananas fall:

Good Calories These are from foods without easily digestible carbohydrates and sugars. These foods can be eaten without restraint. Meat, fish, fowl, cheese, eggs, butter, and non-starchy vegetables.

Bad Calories
These are from foods that stimulate excessive insulin secretion and so make us fat and increase our risk of chronic disease—all refined and easily digestible carbohydrates and sugars. The key is not how much vitamins and minerals they contain, but how quickly they are digested. (So apple juice or even green vegetable juices are not necessarily any healthier than soda.)

Bread and other baked goods, potatoes, yams, rice, pasta, cereal grains, corn, sugar (sucrose and high fructose corn syrup), ice cream, candy, soft drinks, fruit juices, bananas and other tropical fruits, and beer.

Oh, here's one more thing from the book descrip:

The 11 Critical Conclusions of Good Calories, Bad Calories:

1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, does not cause heart disease.
2. Carbohydrates do, because of their effect on the hormone insulin. The more easily-digestible and refined the carbohydrates and the more fructose they contain, the greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being.
3. Sugars—sucrose (table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup specifically—are particularly harmful. The glucose in these sugars raises insulin levels; the fructose they contain overloads the liver.
4. Refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars are also the most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, and the other common chronic diseases of modern times.
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.
7. Exercise does not make us lose excess fat; it makes us hungry.
8. We get fat because of an imbalance—a disequilibrium—in the hormonal regulation of fat tissue and fat metabolism. More fat is stored in the fat tissue than is mobilized and used for fuel. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this imbalance.
9. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated, we stockpile calories as fat. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and burn it for fuel.
10. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.
11. The fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be.

It's only day one for me and I'm already feeling better from a "satiety" standpoint. I've felt comfortably full since lunch four hours ago. My mood is calm and positive. I've got a slight headache, probably from sugar withdrawal. But by this time on most days I am usually seriously craving a candy bar (or several) and today I'm not.

Sure, it's not much of a test yet. And we can argue all we want, but if it works it works. As they say, "the proof will be in the pudding". No, let's make that "the proof will be in the creamed spinach". ;-)

Oh, and just a note on exercise. I did start out hoping to lose weight, and have (very slowly). But after few months I got hooked on it, and realized that I would continue exercising whether I lost weight or not. I love being strong. I love the sense of accomplishment every time I hit a new personal best. I love the fact that even though I still have over 100 pounds to lose, my heart rate has improved to the point that it registers "elite" when I do a fitness test with my heart rate monitor.

As an added bonus, I have the undivided attention of a cute young guy (my trainer) for two hours a week. Life is good!

I went low-carb for awhile the last time this subject came up to test it out.

Carbs like bread and the ones in fruit don't alter my energy levels, but processed sugar really makes me sleepy, and I'm much better off not having it. As a foodie (cooking and eating out), I know I'm not going to give up starches long-term. I got a bread machine for my birthday and need to explore the possibilities. But the advantage of cooking so much is that I'm unlikely to overdo it, so I'm OK with that.

I'd say from personal experience (having lost 15 pounds and kept it off), the best diet is the one you are going to stay with.

I get everything else but one thing....

japanese/chinese/koreans eat alot of rice, how come they are so thin?

Ppen: Studies showing that certain populations were healthy on high-carb diets were performed in areas and times of poverty, such as Japan after WWII. People were consuming lower-glycemic carbs, such as brown (not white) rice, were working hard, and were rationing food, thereby reducing the total glycemic load.

But as the Japanese have become more affluent and switched to white rice and other high-glycemic foods, their health has declined.

As Amy said, there is more on this in Taubes' book.

I know it's just a short run-down of the general ideas of the book...but there is a small bone to pick with #1: "Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, does not cause heart disease."

Depends on the fat...as in natural sources of fat rich in the proper ratio of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids...or man-made "frankenstein" fats like hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils.

While they are technically "dietary fats" there is a world of difference between saturated, and mono-saturated fats from natural animal and plant sources...and the typical poly-unsaturated vegetable oils that are the commonly used oils in restaurants and homes all over the place.

Other than that quibble, I concur with all 11 of those points from his book. I got onto the low-carb/high-fat/high-protein lifestyle before Taubes book came out, after discovering the Weston Price Foundation's website. I got to the point where I realized I could either lose weight...or start buying a whole new wardrobe. After finding the Price website via a body building/nutrintionist guru's website, I learned that everything I thought about eating healthy was VERY wrong. I changed my diet lifestyle, and lost 30 lbs and have kept it off for close to 4 years now...without effort.

Taubes has done a lot to raise up the points that the conventional wisdom and the current medical establishment and the Government Agencies that all push and promote dietary guidelines are basically a bunch of lies and misinformation designed to create a never ending stream of customers for the pharmaceutical and cancer-treatment industry, as well as a way to continue the increased profitability of big corporate/agriculture.

Think about it: the USDA...the US Dept of AGRICULTURE recommends that everyone eat 8-9 servings of grain a day.

If you really think about it, isn't this sorta like asking the drug dealer how much smack you should shoot everyday to be healthy?

It was my discovery of the total dishonesty and lies of the government with regards to diet and food that have turned me into a hard-core libertarian that voted "none of the above" (Ron Paul wasn't on our ticket here in Hawaii) in the last two election cycles.

We truly have become a Fascist country...and I mean fascist in the sense of the traditional definition - the merging of the Government and Corporate interests to control the market economy.

The giant corporations have all played there part in paying off the politicians to promote dietary lies (amongst all the other lies) to benefit certain industries, at the expense of our general health.

Now that Taubes has given a few of you the "red pill" I urge you to look deeper into the rabbit hole.

Do your research to truly learn just how corrupted our food supply and dietary knowledge has been sold down the river for corporate profits at the expense of our health.

Other food "lies" that you should look into yourself:

- That "soy" is good for you. In short, soy is the largest crop in the world, and it is now literally in just about every type of processed food product conceivable. It's been sold as a "healthy" alternative to meat, when in fact soy is full of phytoestrogens that can promote hyperthyroidism, undeveloped genitals in male infants as well as promote malnutrition.

- That Dairy is bad for you...this is only true if your dairy has been processed - homogenized, pasteurized and skimmed. Essentially de-fatted, reconstituted and reformulated into a product that no longer resembles the natural "raw" product that is one of the ultimate health foods.

And the final thing you should look into:

- Look at the quality of your animal protein. You are what you eat...and you are what that which you eat, eats.

Cows were meant to eat grass...not grains like corn and soy. Yet 95% of all the beef produced in this country is from cows stuffed into feedlots, knee deep in their own shit, and fed a diet of GMO grains that produce, obese, sickly cows with meat that is nutritionally far inferior to naturally pastured, grass-fed beef. Feed lot cows produce beef with huge imbalanced ratios between the Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids, which in turn promotes inflammation on a cellular level.

Taubes is the perfect intro for people to start to learn the truth about the lies, propaganda and misinformation that has been promulgated for a variety of malevolent reasons. Don't stop there...swallow the red pill and see just how far the rabbit hole really goes.

Dave: Interesting, after Taubes I read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, who is a follower of Weston Price. There's a lot of really interesting information there, and I've already worked a few of her recommendations into my diet, although I don't think I could ever go whole hog with her approach. It's just too labor-intensive.

I got a bread machine for my birthday and need to explore the possibilities.

I have severe reactive hypoglycemia and have been on the low carb bandwagon for years. If I eat too many carbs my insulin increases, my blood sugar drops and I start packing on the pounds. By low carbing I was able to loose 100 lbs and keep it off.

If you enjoy making breads, check into almond flour. You can make it yourself in a food processor or blender (don't go too far or you will end up with almond butter) and it works very well to make great breads and cakes. This is a recipe that I love and have made repeatedly for birthdays, etc:

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/155/Lowcarb_Almond_Flour_Pound_Ca53205.shtml

Thanks, I'll check it out. Does almond flour work cup for cup with all-purpose flour?

Thanks, I'll check it out. Does almond flour work cup for cup with all-purpose flour?

That is how I've used it, with good results. I'm not much of a bread maker though. I did make cinnamon rolls with it once that they turned out great.

-Julie

Just one point in regard to the reed-thin Yeminite Jews... Do not mistake thin for healthy. People who live on coffee, cigarettes and sandwiches are usually thin, but hardly healty. Reed-thin people most likely suffer from protein deficiency.

Health is a true sense of well-being coupled with longevity or rather 'compressed dying' as Art De Vany argues intensively on his site. A feeling of being strong, energetic and lasting.