Why We Get Fat: and What to Do About it

by Gary Taubes

An eye-opening, myth-shattering examination of what makes us fat, from acclaimed science writer Gary Taubes.

In his New York Times best seller, Good Calories, Bad Calories, Taubes argued that our diet’s overemphasis on certain kinds of carbohydrates—not fats and not simply excess calories—has led directly to the obesity epidemic we face today. The result of thorough research, keen insight, and unassailable common sense, Good Calories, Bad Calories immediately stirred controversy and acclaim among academics, journalists, and writers alike. Michael Pollan heralded it as “a vitally important book, destined to change the way we think about food.”

Building upon this critical work in Good Calories, Bad Calories and presenting fresh evidence for his claim, Taubes now revisits the urgent question of what’s making us fat—and how we can change—in this exciting new book. Persuasive, straightforward, and practical, Why We Get Fat makes Taubes’s crucial argument newly accessible to a wider audience.

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, especially regarding insulin’s regulation of our fat tissue. 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?

Packed with essential information and concluding with an easy-to-follow diet, Why We Get Fat is an invaluable key in our understanding of an international epidemic and a guide to what each of us can do about it.

• ISBN10: 0307949435
• ISBN13: 9780307949431
• Publish Date: 27 December 2011 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 30 June 2015
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Anchor Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kait ✨]

Highly recommended by Gretchen Rubin.

[g2pro]

A Must Read.

[wyvernfriend]

Let's start with, I get his thesis, too much carbohydrates in our diet, and we need to move to a more protein based diet. To a large extent I agree. However the quantity of fat he espouses in a diet isn't compatable with my body. And this is why I'm not scoring this book higher. He's talking about a kind of diet that's a one-size-fits all type and that doesn't ring true with me. While on average this will work for many people, it won't work for everybody and this is something I find lacking in a lot of diet books.

As a gluten-intolerant person, who has to be careful that they get enough of certain vitamins in their diet, this diet is close to what would suit me, and I'm certainly going to be less guilty about changing the balance of protein to carbohydrate in favour of protein in my diet, however I like some carbs and find that they keep my system happy.

He basically lops the fat off the top of the food pyramid and inverts it, saying that carbs should be at a minimum and mostly from green vegetables, fruit should be minimised due to sugar, refined sugar should be pretty much eliminated, fat should be embraced and protein should be the bulk of your food.

Worth reading for the science behind it. Not for everyone.