I'm plowing my way through this 600 page book, and it is proving to be very interesting.

This is what is written on the back of the book

"Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, is not a cause of obesity, heart disease or any other chronic disease.

Obesity is not caused by overeating or lack of exercise

Consuming excess calories does not make us fatter"

And he goes on to explain there points, with studies as proof. The book reviews all the studies that promote low fat high carb, and not a single one is reliable. He also states that sugar/refined carbs *may* a cause in Breast Cancer and many other illnesses.

Highly recommended!

Where did you get it from?

FatboyGinger wrote:Obesity is not caused by overeating or lack of exercise

Id love to know the reasoning behind this, any details FBG?

Let me make a suggestion FBG, once you have finished the book, you could review it as what you've said is pointless.

Sounds rubbish to me mate.

I'm sure I've heard of this book and it is supposed to be very good, but more explaining the difference between enegry supplies from carbs (i.e. Insulin Index etc) than simply saying obesity is caused by over eating and lack of exercise.

FBG, I would be very interested to read a full review once you have finished the book.

@simon m: I think that's a little premature to say such things. I too believe that it is not saturated fat (or any fat) that is the cause of obesity. I believe it is the type of food people eat, mainly & namely carbs from unhealthy sources. And such carbs will then have nasty staurated fats (trans & hydrogenated) that will cause atherosclerosis, increase cancer risk, increase heart disease risk, diabetes, etc etc.

I do however think that overeating & lack of exercise are major factors though. That's obvious and I think the author said they aren't just to get people to buy the book... but the major factor? then no.

Also, consider this: many young (and some old enough to know better) women eat so little and appear to be "skinny". But the "skinny" look is not lean. It's "skinny-fat". Their body fat % is still high(ish); >20%. Ok so that's not disastrous, but when you consider their weight & size (and now this is where BMI is more relevant a marker for health issues since it is really low) the BF% is awful. And what do they eat? Shite foods. And too little. So calorie restriction by them doesn't make them lean... it makes them light and "skinny-fat".

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A book I highly recommend to all those that react well to a low-carb lifestyle (most people in the UK anyway) is: "Living the Low Carb Life" (By Jonny Bowden).

Very clearly explains why a low carb lifestyle works and that this phrase: "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie" is actually bullshit (it's the type of calorie that counts as the body handles calories from different sources differently). It also goes through the different Low Carb plans and explains them. Some are shite (he says so too) and some are good. There's some great tips & tricks for the low carber also.

Highly recommended.

Carbs is the issues - look back over say 50 years - we get told to have a diet high in complex carbs and what happens? fatest now than we all have ever been. Ok theres also other factors but Carbs is key.

Once people understand II and GI with foods [insulin and glycemic] you are pretty much there..

But KP, very, very few people who do have a high carb diet are actually sticking with complex carbs.

That's where the problem lies. White bread, things like super noodles, greasy chips etc.

I firmly believe in the idea of good fat not being a problem and the increased consumption of simple carbs and processed pre packaged foods being responsible for the rise of obesity and the general decline of a lot of people's health.

However, i think the problem with a lot of the books and articles on this subject is not the books/articles themselves but with the snapshots and soundbites that people take away from them.

Fat is good.
Carbs are bad.
Over eating is not a problem.
Regular exercise is not required.

All the statements out of context are just plain dangerous, but thats what a lot of people take away from these sorts of things.

It's too simplistic to blame carbs on their own, it must be put in context of the kind of carb, other nutrients which are taken with them, individual state of health and physiology, and how this all works alongside lifestyle.

In terms of a 'high carb' diet, well I don't actually think it's possible to eat one that is calorific enough without consuming a certain amount of junk, as most nutritious veggies are actually not that high in calories (mostly water and fibre) so you'd need to eat bucket loads of them to meet calorie requirements if you train hard and this just isn't possible.

No, my take is that a diet balanced in terms of all three macros containing a broad range of nutrients but with only very little processed food (and this includes fats as well as carbs), with the balance of foods adjusted according to individual goals and needs is always gonna come up trumps.

I have seen no science anywhere which says that a diet low in junk but balanced accross macros is going lead to metabolic disorders the same way that a diet of high processed carbs and altered fats does.

Gymbunny + Simon I will review the book, and tell you what it says and justify his statements.
I have not read a huge amount so far but he is very against the government food guidelines, and he is explaining why they are so badly wrong!

I agree with the sentiments actually. People would look a helluva lot better if they gorged themselves with good, real food. Give someone a diet of 3000cals consisting of natural foods, then their identical twin a diet of 1500cals consisting of sweaty donuts and grease monkeys and see who looks better.

Then again i strongly disagree with the exercise bit. The body needs to be physically stressed or it will just be physically and physiologically weak. also give a regular person 5000cals of food and they will get fat, be it natural food or not.

I think those claims may have some underlying accuracy, but at a glance it's too vague and are probably just to lure you into buying and reading.

I may have sounded a little contradictory there, but i care not.

He basically argues that although the law of conservation is correct, we interpret it wrongly. Hence, he argues not that we eat too much and don't exercise enough and therefore get fat, but actually we eat more, move less and have less energy to expend because we are metabolically or hormonally driven to get fat (i.e the arrow is actually the other way round; we our beliefs about causality are wrong).
He argues that all government recommendations are based on association trials, such as the Framingham Heart Study, hence have completely misinterpreted the data.
He also looks at why the obesity epidemic has started- not down to eating more, exercising less, or eating more fat, but actually eating more fast carbs and sugar.

It is also interesting to know his fiercist critics have been funded by General Foods, Coca Cola, and the sugar industry, hence a rather large conflict of interest.

Its just a load of headline catching to claim calories in does not equal calories out. Ye not all carbs are created equal but their essential. The best way of regulating insulin levels is actually to eat protein in every meal, even better to get all 3 macro's in each meal.

Bottom line with being fat...

Calories in- calories out.

End of story

Rab wrote:Bottom line with being fat...

Calories in- calories out.

End of story

Rabs diet school........... "eat less you fat b1tch"

pretty much mate.

Stop eating crisps and chocolate and move your arse a bit more....preferably up and down on my......

Rab wrote:pretty much mate.

Stop eating crisps and chocolate and move your arse a bit more....preferably up and down on my......

lol......The jock with cock tells it as it is

Rab wrote:Bottom line with being fat...

Calories in- calories out.

End of story

Aye, that's true, but, according to Taubes, you've got it the wrong way round. Obesity is not caused by overeating and lack of exercise (i.e Calories in -calories out), but obesity causes this imbalance, hence manifests itself in the unwillingness to exercise and willingness to overeat.

FatboyGinger wrote:

Rab wrote:Bottom line with being fat...

Calories in- calories out.

End of story

Aye, that's true, but, according to Taubes, you've got it the wrong way round. Obesity is not caused by overeating and lack of exercise (i.e Calories in -calories out), but obesity causes this imbalance, hence manifests itself in the unwillingness to exercise and willingness to overeat.

So answer me this.

If obesity causes a person to overeat then how do they get obese in the first place. If you follow the premise you state this author writes about then we should have no obese people. As you only over eat if your obese!

FatboyGinger wrote:

Rab wrote:Bottom line with being fat...

Calories in- calories out.

End of story

Aye, that's true, but, according to Taubes, you've got it the wrong way round. Obesity is not caused by overeating and lack of exercise (i.e Calories in -calories out), but obesity causes this imbalance, hence manifests itself in the unwillingness to exercise and willingness to overeat.

Total bollocks

Aye perhaps thats true, but firstly you have to get obese in the first place...which happens due to calories in calories out...

The root cause of obesity is eating too much shite and sitting on your arse.

Rab wrote:Aye perhaps thats true, but firstly you have to get obese in the first place...which happens due to calories in calories out...

The root cause of obesity is eating too much shite and sitting on your arse.

Exactly. This Taubes fellow seems to have mixed up his cause and effect.

Rab wrote:Aye perhaps thats true, but firstly you have to get obese in the first place...which happens due to calories in calories out...

The root cause of obesity is eating too much shite and sitting on your arse.

No No no Rab modern foods make you eat too much and be lazy so none of us stand a chance.

Seriously the blame culture at its best. Like people don't have will power.

Do any of you bother giving anything more than a "standard" short answer to people who ask you about what they should be eating etc?

I cant be arsed anymore.

My aunt wanted me to give her a sheet of things to eat...i aint bothered my arse. I just told her to stop drinking cans of lager every night and thats it. Cant be arsed anymore with people in general!