Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health

Review Quotes:
"A vitally important book, destined to change the way we think about food." --Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food"Gary Taubes is a brave and bold science journalist who does not accept conventional wisdom." -- The New York Times"A very important book." --Dr. Andrew Weil "Brilliant and enlightening. . . . Taubes is a relentless researcher." -- The Washington Post"Easily the most important book on diet and health to be published in the past one hundred years. It is clear, fast-paced and exciting to read, rigorous, authoritative, and a beacon of hope for all those who struggle with problems of weight regulation and general health." --Richard Rhodes"A watershed. . . . Lucid and lively. . . . It could literally change the way you eat, the way you look and how long you live." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune"Taubes tackles the subject with the seriousness and scientific insight it deserves, building a devastating case against the low-fat, high-carb way of life endorsed by so many nutrition experts in recent years." --Barbara Ehrenreich

Biographical Note:
GARY TAUBES is cofounder and senior scientific advisor of the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI). He's an award-winning science and health journalist, the author of Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories, and a former staff writer for Discover and correspondent for the journal Science. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and Esquire, and has been included in numerous Best of anthologies, including 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. He is also the recipient of a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research. He lives in Oakland, California.

Marc Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.;Not another diet book: After seven years of research in every science connected with the impact of nutrition on health, science writer Taubes shows that almost everything we believe about a healthy diet is wrong. We are taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more--yet we see unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Taubes argues persuasively that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates, via their dramatic effect on insulin, and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number. He also argues that there is no compelling scientific evidence that saturated fat and cholesterol cause heart disease. Based on the evidence, he concludes that the only healthy way to remain lean is to eat fewer carbohydrates or to change the type of carbohydrates we eat.--From publisher description.

Table of Contents:
Prologue: A Brief History of Banting -- Part 1. The Fat-Cholesterol Hypothesis -- 1. The Eisenhower Paradox -- 2. The Inadequacy of Lesser Evidence -- 3. Creation of Consensus -- 4. The Greater Good -- Part 2. The Carbohydrate Hypothesis -- 5. Diseases of Civilization -- 6. Diabetes and the Carbohydrate Hypothesis -- 7. Fiber -- 8. The Science of the Carbohydrate Hypothesis -- 9. Triglycerides and the Complications of Cholesterol -- 10. The Role of Insulin -- 11. The Significance of Diabetes -- 12. Sugar -- 13. Dementia, Cancer, and Aging -- Part 3. Obesity and the Regulation of Weight -- 14. The Mythology of Obesity -- 15. Hunger -- 16. Paradoxes -- 17. Conservation of Energy -- 18. Fattening Diets -- 19. Reducing Diets -- 20. Unconventional Diets -- 21. The Carbohydrate Hypothesis, I: Fat Metabolism -- 22. The Carbohydrate Hypothesis, II: Insulin -- 23. The Fattening Carbohydrate Disappears -- 24. The Carbohydrate Hypothesis, III: Hunger and Satiety -- Epilogue -- Afterword to the Anchor Edition -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index.

Brief Description:
"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"--Back cover.

Publisher Marketing:
This groundbreaking book by award-winning science writer and bestselling author of Why We Get Fat and The Case for Keto shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.

Review Citations:

• New York Times Book Review 10/05/2008 pg. 28 (EAN 9781400033461, Paperback)