Why We Get Fat & What to Do about It

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WHY [size=+1]WE [/size][size=+2]GET [/size][size=+3]FAT[/size] By Gary Taubes​

This Book is a follow-on from "The Diet Delusion" ("Good Calories Bad Calories" in the USA) and is written in a more easy-to-read style. He invokes "The First Law of Thermodynamics" (although he shows that it is always true but not relevent, and not until chapter 6, and then he never uses an equation as below) i.e.

[size=+2]DE[size=-1]s[/size] = E[size=-1]in[/size] - E[size=-1]out[/size][/size]​

where:

DEs = Change in energy stored (calories as fat)
Ein = Energy-in (calories) and
Eout = Energy-out (calories)​

However, the above equation gives absolutely no information about causality. There are two possibilities, one focuses on the right-hand side of the equation as the cause, the other on left-hand side:

1. The calories-in calories-out hypothesis (the one believed by almost everyone) says the cause is overeating (Ein gets bigger) and/or sedentary behaviour (Eout gets smaller) and the effect is DE[size=-1]s[/size] gets bigger (obesity)

2. The "obesity is caused by an excessive accumulation of fat" hypothesis, and then goes on to ask the question "what causes the excess accumulation". Here the cause is DE[size=-1]s[/size] getting bigger (obesity) and the effect is Ein gets bigger (overeating) and/or Eout gets smaller (become sedentary)​

Reason 1 says the problem is in the mind - a lack of willpower, and the way to correct obesity is to eat less and exercise more. Whereas the answer to the question in reason 2 is that the problem is an imbalance in the body's biochemistry. The imbalance is chronically high insulin trapping too much energy in the fat tissue. This means the organs and lean tissue are starved. So, if we can, we will overeat. If we don't/can't overeat, the starvation makes us feel hungry and we become sedentary. Here, the way to correct obesity is to eat foods that don't cause a large insulin response.

The reason why this book is important is that it offers an explanation for the obesity epidemic which started in the 1980s and followed the "Dietary Goals for Americans (1977)" issued by the American government/USDA. Note that both Hypotheses do not not violate the 1st law (there has never been a violation to date), but the obesity epidemic coincides with an increase in calories since the 1980s and the majority of that increase has been carbs. Because reason 1 says overeating is the cause, if it is possible that obesity can occur without overeating then logically the calories-in, calories-out hypothesis is wrong. Ofcourse Taubes goes on to show experiments/observations where there could not be overeating and yet obesity was present. The second hypothesis has no such restriction, all that is required is high insulin levels, in other words that insulin is a fattening hormone! If you are struggling with overweight problems it offers an alternate solution which may just work for you, especially if you are insulin resistant which most type 2s are!

Edit: Copied from Jimmy Moore's Blog: For those who read Good Calories Bad Calories and understood it, the information in this new book will be old hat to you–but shared in a more user-friendly style that will reach a much wider audience with the same message intact. Why We Get Fat is split into two distinct books–”Book 1″ in the first 80 pages of the book is all about why obesity exists and explains how we got into this crisis to begin with while “Book 2″ over the final 120 pages gives a little more practical instruction on what makes us fat (or not) and what people who carry around a few extra pounds can do to eliminate the excessive weight. My favorite chapter in the book is Chapter 18 “The Nature Of A Healthy Diet” where Taubes brilliantly counters the three main arguments we hear from physicians and so-called health “experts” about why low-carb diets are not an optimally nutritional way to eat:

1. They’re a scam because they promote weight loss without eating less.
2. They’re unbalanced because they cut out an entire nutrient category (carbohydrate).
3. They’re high-fat diets, especially saturated fat, which causes heart disease.

If you believe that any of these statements are true, then simply turn to page 173 in Why We Get Fat to see how Taubes slices and dices these common myths about livin’ la vida low-carb as only he can. As Tom Naughton who created a fantastic documentary film on this subject called FAT HEAD would say, “We’ve all been fed a load of bologna!” Indeed we have and Taubes is doing his part to expose this farce so that those who struggle with why they got fat can figure out precisely what they need to do about it once and for all



Why We Get Fat