[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text][google_font font=”Roboto” size=”50″ weight=”400″ italic=”0″ color=”black” subset=””]
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
[/google_font]
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_fade” interval=”3″ images=”308″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
[google_font font=”Roboto” size=”20″ weight=”400″ italic=”0″ color=”black”]
This is the book that started it all for a lot of people. Gary Taubes is nothing short of brilliant in this comprehensive read about conventional wisdom and how it pertains to nutrition and science.
This is the book that he wrote to give to your doctor or someone who needs the hard science.
Here is the description from Amazon:
For decades we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet despite this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Taubes argues that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates, like white flour, easily digested starches, and sugars, and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number. In this groundbreaking book, award-winning science writer Gary Taubes shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.
Amazon has it for $11.80 as a paperback, however you can get a used for under $5:
Amazon – Good, Calories, Bad Calories
If you own it and read it, please let us know by submitting a review below, commenting on this post or by contacting us!
If you know any other great reads or books, please let us know, we are always looking for more information and ease!
[/google_font][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text][google_font font=”Roboto” size=”25″ weight=”500″ italic=”0″ color=”black”]Here are some other books and recommended readings, including books from Gary Taubes and Dr. Lustig [/google_font]
[google_font font=”Roboto” size=”20″ weight=”400″ italic=”0″ color=”black”]
Also, below there are some of the more helpful reviews that I’ve found on Amazon.
[/google_font][/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_raw_html]
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
[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_raw_html]
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
[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_raw_html]
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
[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_raw_html]
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
[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
[google_font font=”Roboto” size=”25″ weight=”600″ italic=”0″ color=”black”]Most Helpful Amazon Reviews:
[/google_font]
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][google_font font=”Roboto” size=”20″ weight=”600″ italic=”0″ color=”black” subset=””]
Reformed Health Care Worker[/google_font]
[icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”]
[blockquote author=” RSD48″ link=”” target=”_blank”]I’ve worked in hospitals or have been in a teaching position in health care since 1972. That entire time I marched to the unceasing drum of dietary-fat-and-cholesterol-lead-directly-to-heart-disease, now called the lipid theory of heart disease. It never occurred to me to ask “Where is the hard evidence?” I assumed it had been irrefutably proven. Then factors in my own life led me to eventually question that ever present mantra.
My own mother had her first heart attack when she was just 48 years old. In her seventies she was put on a statin for elevated cholesterol and became someone I barely recognized; argumentative, irritable, forgetful, poor coordination and very depressed. Nothing in my own medical care education lead me to blame any of that on statin drugs. What was even more puzzling was that she had never been one to eat fatty foods or things laden with cholesterol. But I never stopped to think about that. I did know she struggled with weight her entire life and hence was vigilant in eating things low-fat, as well as only using polyunsaturated oils for cooking. But it is also true she had a problem with carbohydrates – they always were the majority of her diet. I lost her to a heart attack in 1995.
Three years ago, as my own cholesterol nudged up a bit, but still within traditional normal range, I did not hesitate to comply with my doctor’s suggestion to begin a statin (Lipitor). If anything, I felt I was getting ahead of the danger of losing my life as my mother had. But also like her, I struggle with my weight and like her I gravitate to carbohydrates. I was strictly avoiding all saturated fats and dietary cholesterol, cooking with the supposedly “healthy” polyunsaturated oils and always choosing fat-free or low-fat dairy products[/blockquote]
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][google_font font=”Roboto” size=”20″ weight=”600″ italic=”0″ color=”black” subset=””]
10 out of 5[/google_font]
[icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”]
[blockquote author=”Jodi-Hummingbird ” link=”” target=”_blank”]This book is one of the most important health books I have ever read.
(My copy was called ‘The Diet Delusion’ which is the UK and Australian etc. title of this book, I think.)
The author is incredibly intelligent and that this book took the author more than five years to write, shows. I’ve read few health books so intelligently written as this one.
I thought I was quite well educated about diet and the need to restrict refined carbohydrates (for good health and to stop weight gain) but I learned so much from reading this book.
This book is not a simple book offering practical advice and a diet sheet but a detailed analysis of why low calorie diets don’t work and why restricted carbohydrate/high fat diets do.
The book explains that:
1. The ‘calories in, calories out’ mantra is a myth
2. ‘A calorie is a calorie is a calorie’ is a myth
3. The ‘just eat less and do more exercise to lose weight’ message seems to be logical but is actually wrong and unhelpful
4. Overweight and obese people often eat no more calories, or even less, than their thinner counterparts
5. Low calorie diets also reduce the amount of nutrients in the diet
6. It is a myth that the brain and CNS needs 120 – 130 grams of carbohydrate as fuel in order to function properly, as the body can use fat and protein equally as well, and these fuels are likely the mixture our brains have evolved to prefer.
7. Restricting calories with a low fat/high carb diet just makes you hungrier and more lethargic and slows your metabolic rate. Weight loss is only maintained if the patients stays on a semi-starvation diet forever, which is impossible for most people and also undesirable. Being far more active just makes you far more hungry.
8. It is a myth that reducing calories slightly or increasing activity slightly will lead to weight loss.
9. It is a myth that we evolved through periods of feast and famine to be very good at holding onto fat. Fat gain is due to excessive insulin levels caused by high dietary refined carbohydrate intake. It is a sign of something in the body going wrong, not a healthy adaptation.
10. Fructose is not much better than glucose and the two together may cause more harm than either individually.
11. The idea of a weight ‘set point’ is a myth
12. Insulin is the overall fuel control for mammals. High insulin levels cause the body to store fat and stop the body from using fat as fuel. This means that high carbohydrate foods make you put on more fat, and also leave you still feeling very hungry and unsatisfied.
13. Our bodies have evolved to do best on a diet of plentiful fat and protein (including saturated fat), lots of greens and minimal fruits and starchy vegetables. This diet is the best for health and also for losing weight and stopping weight gain.
14. Dietary fat, including saturated fat, is not a cause of obesity. Refined and easily digestible carbs causing high insulin levels cause obesity.
15. To say that people are overweight due to gluttony and slothfulness is just not correct and it is very unfair. Overeating and a sedentary lifestyle are often CAUSED by eating a high carbohydrate diet! This association has wrongly been interpreted as a cause of weight gain, rather than an effect.
16. Hunger caused by eating a high carbohydrate diet (or excessive exercising while on a low calorie diet) is a very strong physiological drive and should not be thought of something mild and psychological that can be overcome with willpower. This is something serious occurring in the body, not the brain!
Thus psychological ‘treatments’ for obesity are inappropriate and cruel. Most people are overweight due to bad medical advice, NOT a lack of willpower, greed, laziness or because they lack ‘moral fibre’
17. People have different insulin secretory responses. Even if insulin secretion is slightly off, weight gain can occur.
18. Eating large amounts of a high sugar and high fat food like popcorn is easy because the body will not use most of the carbohydrate and fat for immediate fuel but will store much of it as fat – leaving you able to eat a lot of it and still be hungry a short time later as well.
19. Eating foods with a large bulk or high in fibre wont fill you up, you need the correct proportion of macronutrients and will stay hungry until you get them.
20. Those advocating the low calorie and high carb diets for health and weight loss are not involved in legitimate science. These approaches are not supported by the evidence.
I have still not covered so many other great points!
The bottom line is that we have evolved to eat a diet that contains enough fat and protein to cause satiety, lots of green vegetables and minimal amounts of fruits and starchy vegetables. Our bodies really can’t cope with huge levels of refined carbohydrate as have recently been added to the modern diet.
More detailed information about this type of diet (and the benefits of traditional foods as well such as raw milk, organ meats, bone broths and fermented foods) can be found in books such as ‘Nourishing Traditions’ and ‘Eat Fat, Lose Fat’ by Sally Fallon (of the Weston A. Price Foundation) and Deep Nutrition by Catherine Shanahan and Luke Shanahan, among others.
This book is a *very* dense read. (Those that are very ill and can’t read such a long and complex book may do best to read just the first chapter and the last 2 chapters as these provide a summary to some extent.)
My only criticisms of the book are that a brief, maybe half page summary, of each chapter at the end of each chapter may have been very helpful for those of us that struggled taking in so many new facts at once due to illness or any other reason. I’d also have liked the ideas of Weston A. Price to be featured a bit more prominently than just on the acknowledgments page! But I accept that space was a concern for the author, as he states.
To the author, thank you so much for all your hard work. This is such an impressive body of work. I wish we had more investigative jounalists writing about ‘controversial’ topics to such a high standard.
I highly recommend this book. Check your library for a copy, at least!
Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds’ Foundation for M.E. (HFME) and Health, Healing & Hummingbirds (HHH)[/blockquote]
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][google_font font=”Roboto” size=”20″ weight=”600″ italic=”0″ color=”black” subset=””]
Sorely needed because it finally puts low-fat vs. low-carb to rest.[/google_font]
[icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”]
[blockquote author=”Tech Nut ” link=”” target=”_blank”]I’m a researcher by trade. Not a medical researcher, but an analyst nonetheless and I have been waiting for a very long time for this kind of work to come out. This isn’t advocacy whatsoever. It’s a look at what everyone says, and what the science says, and the politics that led us to ignore the science. The research level is staggering and evidence so overwhelming that portions of the book are downright infuriating.
I personally found reading the one-star reviews here interesting because there is not a single, negative review here that remotely suggests the reviewer actually read the material.
On to my own rating, here’s what I think you should know when considering this purchase:
This is unlike any book you’ve ever read on the subject of diets. It is not a diet book. It is not a lifestyle book. It is not an advocacy book. It is a look at the science that has been ignored as our country has rolled toward the low-fat religion and what the consequences of this have been. It is a look at how and why overwhelming science and evidence was ignored.
Society has needed someone to do what Taubes did here — to strip away what is popular, to dig into claims and recommendations, and see what the EVIDENCE shows us for claims on both sides of the diet argument. It will give you clarity where there has never been any, while explaining why it has been absent.
If you are looking for a book that lays out a diet plan and recipes and sample meals and such, this is not for you. This is a work of scientific journalism, not a diet plan.
On a final note, it is noteworthy that there have been no real rebuttals to this work whatsoever from the “experts” and “authorities” who have, because of politics and money and cowardice, advocated dietary guidelines that have driven our society into our miserable states of health and obesity.
That silence is shame.[/blockquote]
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][google_font font=”Roboto” size=”20″ weight=”600″ italic=”0″ color=”black” subset=””]
Eye-opening and genuinely illuminating[/google_font]
[icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”][icon type=”icon-star”]
[blockquote author=”Dairy Maid” link=”” target=”_blank”]I wish I had known about this book long ago. Mr. Taubes writes exceedingly clear, articulate, and precise explanations. Admittedly, the book is dense and will take you awhile to read and (at least in my case) to comprehend. Mostly because I was “unlearning” as much as learning.
The author never dramatizes or gets hysterical — which is high praise, given how frustrating it must have been to see how and why weight loss research went off the rails, not once but many times. Indeed, Mr. Taubes’ careful research had me infuriated at how I simply accepted the conventional medical beliefs about weight gain and weight loss, despite my own personal experiences.
I am so grateful to have this information.[/blockquote][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
[google_font font=”Roboto” size=”25″ weight=”600″ italic=”0″ color=”black”]Do you own one? If so, please submit a review and information for others!
[/google_font]
[/vc_column_text][vc_wp_text]
[show-testimonials-form alias=’product review’]
[/vc_wp_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]