Synopses & Reviews
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 diets 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 whats 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 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.
Review
"Well-researched and thoughtful...Reconsidering how our diet affects our bodies, how we might modify it to be healthier, and being less harsh with those who struggle with their weight are all worthy goals. Taubes has done us a great service by bringing these issues to the table." — Dennis Rosen, The Boston Globe
Review
"Less dense and easier to read [than Good Calories, Bad Calories] but no less revelatory." — Jeff Baker, The Oregonian
Review
"Taubes's critique is so pointed and vociferous that reading him will change the way you look at calories, the food pyramid, and your daily diet." — Men's Journal
Review
"Gary Taubes is a science journalist's science journalist, who researches topics to the point of obsession — actually, well beyond that point — and never dumbs things down for readers." — John Horgan, Scientific American
Review
"Passionate and urgent...Backed by a persuasive amount of detail...As an award-winning scientific journalist who spent the past decade rigorously tracking down and assimilating obesity research, he's uniquely qualified to understand and present the big picture of scientific opinions and results. Despite legions of researchers and billions of government dollars expended, Taubes is the one to painstakingly compile this information, assimilate it, and make it available to the public...Taubes does the important and extraordinary work of pulling it all together for us." — Karen Bentley, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Review
"Compelling...Gary Taubes has done it again...[Why We Get Fat] takes a hard look at the commonly held belief that the reason why we gain weight is because we consume more calories than we expend and turns it upside down...Packed with eye-opening information and elucidating studies." — Diets in Review
Review
"This is the book I knew was inside of Good Calories, Bad Calories...Why We Get Fat is the book to give to friends, doctors, congressmen, and anyone else who wants to understand the futility of our current nutritional advice...Clearly, obviously, succinctly, Taubes shows us how scientific theories that explained obesity as a hormonal rather than moral issue were abandoned during World War II for simplistic theories based on thermodynamics that work in physics, but make no sense when used to describe the behavior of complex biological systems." — LowCarbConfidential
Synopsis
Persuasive, straightforward, and practical,
Why We Get Fat is an essential guide to nutrition and weight management.
In this exciting new book, Gary Taubes, bestselling author of Good Calories, Bad Calories addresses the urgent question of what’s making us fat—and how we can change. He reveals the bad nutritional science of the last century and the good science that has been ignored, answering the most persistent questions along the way: 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?
About the Author
Gary Taubes is a contributing correspondent for Science magazine. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, and The Best of the Best American Science Writing (2010). He has received three Science in Society Journalism Awards from the National Association of Science Writers, the only print journalist so recognized. He is currently a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator in Health Policy Research at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. He lives in Oakland.