SubscribeGood Calories, Bad Calories
In the recently published book, Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease, Gary Taubes challenges our dietary beliefs, often accepted as true, by approaching the published research from the perspective of a skeptic.
Taubes finds much of what we think lacks support from findings from data published throughout the last century.
Taubes tackles a number of issues in the book, first reviewing the history of how we got where we are today with public health policies and dietary recommendations; and why, even without good scientific evidence to support our policies as they developed, they were formed and promoted as fact to the population at large.
Diet-Heart Hypothesis vs Carbohydrate Hypothesis
He then tackles what were two competing hypotheses at the time we hit the crossroad in our search for understanding how diet plays a role in disease: the diet-heart hypothesis and the carbohydrate hypothesis.
He asked, "If we had taken this other fork in the road, what would we have come to believe?"
The full weight of the evidence, Taubes contends, led him to conclusions he did not anticipate at the start; conclusions that are controversial but open-ended for more discussion, interpretation, analysis and trial.
One such thought-provoking piece of the diet-health-weight puzzle is that carbohydrates contribute to the storage of body fat in ways that are not fully appreciated by researchers; diets rich with carbohydrate, especially refined & processed carbohydrate, act in the metabolism to foster weight gain while inhibiting release of stored fatty acids for use as energy due to hormone signals from insulin and the effects of circulating alpha-glycerol phosphate.
With insulin and alpha-glycerol phosphate in play, the evidence suggests we're effectively running on empty despite consuming plenty of food and calories each day, suggesting it isn't just how much we eat, but what we eat which contributes to our growing waistlines.
What Do We Believe?
Taubes provokes us to examine our beliefs about a healthful diet by providing a wealth of data from hundreds of studies reviewed in his research in writing the book. That is, he presents a compelling argument that the supportive data used to maintain the status quo of the diet-heart hypothesis and our current dietary guidelines is not as sturdy as we're led to believe, and makes the case that for well over a century there has been, all along, the competing alternate theory, the carbohydrate hypothesis, that has been ignored despite compelling data.
No matter what one currently believes, this book is an eye-opening examination of the science and the history that led us to where we are today; a compelling review of the weight of the evidence from both sides; and a resource rich with citations that allow us to begin examining and questioning the validity of our beliefs in the connections between diet and health.
I'll have to check it out.
ReplyIn the end, one's choice has to be personal and what's best for them... I doubt this book offers enough to completely offset everything else (there are conflicting studies, hundreds of them) -- but it is always helpful to be willing to hear all arguments :D
I read this book. It's excellent. There's also a podcast interview with the author on NPR.org. Mr. Taubes isn't really "promoting" meat and saturated fat eating over an all veggie, no-fat diet ... rather, he digs through all the conventional wisdom and studies that brought us to the conclusion that "fat" (all fats) were and are making us fat.
He also takes a look at refined Carbs (white rice, white bread, etc.) and refined sugars as well.
He finds that a great many of the early studies about fat that have become everyday "knowledge" to be bogus and seriously flawed. That's where the book really opens your eyes. Just to see how flawed today's common wisdom is and how even doctors pass along flawed, untrue and bogus information.
Good read. I suggest it to all my friends.
ReplyThere was a fairly extensive discussion on this blog a few weeks ago.
I'd highly suggest checking out this video webcast. It's long (over an hour and a half if I recall) but it surmizes a 460 page book. Good stuff!
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details.php?webcastid=21216
ReplyProbably the most researched and thought out book out there on nutrition. No fads just straight info. Even if you don't agree with everything he says, in a world full of too many nutritional books...it's the most important nutritional book out there.
ReplyCarbohydrates are cheap and over-produced. Big Ag has more invested in grains and soybeans than any other product.
Small wonder why the carbohydrate hypothesis (read, truth about carbohydrates and disease) would be suppressed. Small wonder why grains would be placed at the bottom of the USDA Food Pyramid, and beans elevated to the status of meat.
Call it a conspiracy theory, if you like. But what do you call it when the least likely story is broadcast, accepted, and then broadcast again? The Big Lie.
Replywhy is it that all the things that taste good are never good for you? why cant it be the other way around...? ;(
Replybut who can eat toast w/o butter?!
ReplyI'm afraid you got the good and the bad confused.
ReplyNo, the toast is bad! Just eat the butter!
ReplyBottom line here is, ditch the bread and other refined carbs and load up on burgers, butter and bacon!
ReplySounds interesting -- I'll keep an eye out for it in the library. I'm sure the science is sound, but forgive for being a natural sceptic whenever a book goes completely against received wisdom: I'll not be giving up my wholegrain carbs just yet!
Ali
ReplyThe whole point is that this book doesn't go completely against received wisdom--only the wisdom, originally promoted by a small group, that over the last 20 or so years has become government-supported gospel.
ReplyWithout the toast, do I need the butter?
ReplyTaubes says that carbs cause obesity and chronic disease, and that meat is good for you and won’t make you fat.
However, over 50 years of meticulously conducted research has found that people who follow traditional Mediterranean and Asian diets (which contain little meat but plenty of carbs from rice, pasta, bread, beans, fruits and vegetables) have low rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, as well as the longest life spans in the world.
Researchers have also found that when people from Mediterranean and Asian cultures abandon their traditional diets and start eating a meat-heavy Western diet, their rates of obesity and chronic disease increase to our levels, and their life spans decrease substantially.
This makes it clear that Gary Taubes has got it very wrong indeed.
ReplyFoodoo, Gary Taubes addresses those same studies you mentioned but doesn't selectively trumpet only the results that support a pre-decided opinion or try to shoehorn narrow explanations for those results that must be tortuously argued to fit within "received wisdom".
For one thing, the widely touted results were only the ones that appeared to support conventional wisdom. The actual study included far more cultures but were never broadly reported since the results were not easily interpreted.
Taubes goes into far more detail than I can here, and he does so looking at all the evidence.
You too should look at all the evidence before making up your mind.
ReplyFoodoo - your anecdotes do not carry much weight, as it were. Have you read Taubes' book and articles? It seems that you have not.
ReplyI'm curious about this book. It sounds like a very biochemical-based approach to weight gain, which is probably the best way to look at things. Diets rich in refined carbohydrates are usually also lacking in fiber and other nutrients that you would get with a diet that is richer in veggies, fruit, meats, and unrefined carbs. When you eat a lot refined carbs with little fiber or protein, they are absorbed quickly and elicit a really fast glycemic response from the body, so maybe that's part of why they promote weight gain. Of course, it is possible to maintain a normal weight eating a diet rich in carbs as well (like the typical Asian diet), but people forget that Asians generally eat small portions of carbs and they often are eaten with veggies and/or are less refined than the carbs that most Americans eat. Pasta, rice, bread, etc...are very commonly "overeaten" foods. A serving of rice is not that big, folks. You know those little pint boxes of rice you get from the Chinese takeout? That's 4 servings. At around 200 calories a serving, if you eat a pint of rice, that's 800 calories.
Also, my theory is that people who eat a lot of refined carbs and not many veggies, fruits, fats, proteins, etc., are overfed but undernourished. When your body craves specific nutrients, you feel hungrier. I'm guessing it's a hormonal response to lack of nutrients/cofactors. I know that once I started eating dark leafy greens, lean protein, carrots, berries, yogurt, etc., I didn't have as many hunger pangs during the day.
ReplySpectra, another reality for say Japanese people who eat lots of carbs(i.e, Ramen), is that they MOVE a heck of a lot more then the average American. They probably walk the equivalent of several miles a day, in addition eat smaller portions like you mentioned. I think the thing about refined carbs is not that they by themselves will cause additional fat gain, but because of the hypoglycemic response, the satiety is not achieved and you end up having to eat more to feel sated, which means more calories = fat gain.
Fats with protein, low carb is maximum satiety, which means a diet w/o feeling that starving feeling all the time, which turns into consuming less calories = fat loss. And exercise.
Reply
ReplyFoodoo, just parroting the conventional wisdom is not an argument.
If you haven't actually read this book which, as far as I can tell from what I've read, is thoroughly researched and presents a very specific argument, you can't just dismiss it like that. The book isn't just a "carbs bad, fats and protein good" argument. It's more complicated than that.
Besides, if you think that these vague "researchers" you refer to are infallible, then you clearly have no idea how science works. For instance, a study showing a link between the diets of people living a particular region and a low incidence of heart disease and a high life expectancy does not mean the link is causative. There are many factors involved. Other lifestyle factors and genetics, for instance. Besides, the media and people marketing a diet book often infer a stronger relationship in these cases than the research actually supports.
Also, you seem to be confused. Actual Mediterranean/Asian diets are NOT high in carbohydrates the way the American/Western diets are. Saying they are "high in carbohydrate" is seriously misrepresenting the definition of the Mediterranean/Asian diet. That's like going to the Olive Garden or Panda Express expecting to lose weight. (Spectra covered this already.)
ReplyI have a confession to make... Carbs are essential. Damn, I hate myself for saying that, but it's true.
If I got 4 or 5 days without carbs, my head starts to throb and I get woozy.
That said, glycogen (from animal livers) and lactose (from milk) are really great carbs :P
But so are the carbs obtained from berries, squash and nuts.
I just wouldn't make the mistake of getting most of my calories from them. Carbs are like polyunsaturated fats. An essential accessory.
Most of my calories come from saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and protein from animals, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
ReplyDaveC
What I am saying about the benefits of Mediterranean and Asian diets is far from "undocumented."
For example, if you google this: Mediterranean diet+study, and this: Asian diet+study, you'll find hundreds of scientific studies documenting the many benefits of Mediterranean and Asian diets.
And as I mentioned, these diets contain plenty of carbs but only small amounts of meat -- which is the complete opposite of what Taubes (who is a science writer, not a scientist) is telling people to eat.
ReplyI look forward to checking this book out! Assertions that are backed by some substance will be a welcome change to all the hype LOL!
ReplyKailash, whoever said low-carb is no carb? Why go to extremes here? Dr. Taubes is not advocating you abstain from carbs. Maybe carbo-loading is essential for high volume weight lifting, but otherwise, it's detrimental. Can we start to have more moderate conversation here?
ReplyAnd those people have alot more physical activity then Americans, so is it totally the diet? Who knows... Why go to extremes and assume one thing is automatically better. Trust your own experience, and how you react to refined carbs.
ReplyI just know that I'm addicted to refined carbs and they make me fat, so I go moderate carbs and low-carb on the refined stuff.
ReplyI think the confusion over the imporance of rice in the Asian diet comes from the prominence given to it, not the specific amount. In Japanese cuisine, rice may be the central dish but it's one portion in the middle of four to five total dishes. So it makes up a small amount while vegetables and protein make up the rest.
That said, I'd have to read the whole book to decide what I think on it. I will give him that refined carbohydrates are terrible for you, but for whole grains it seems to come down to a person to person thing.
ReplyThis makes me wonder if we all shouldn't be looking at the total package. Is it better to eschew carbs and sit on our butts all day or to incorporate some carbs and, oh I don't know, actually get some exercise? If there's anything Americans want, it's the easy way out. The funny thing is that you can eat a bit of everything and not gain any weight (or even lose some) if you get up and move around.
I'm so sick of all of these books saying "Eat this, not this" or "This food is bad while this food is good." Yes, some foods are better than others, but I completely believe that exercise is the best thing of all and trumps the carb/fat wars. Too bad there are so many people looking for the magic bullet that will let them gorge without exercising.
ReplySo where's the documentation for the study showing that "when people from Mediterranean and Asian cultures abandon their traditional diets and start eating a meat-heavy Western diet, their rates of obesity and chronic disease increase to our levels, and their life spans decrease substantially.?" And is the typical American diet meat heavy now? The typical diet now seems to more along the lines of a little bit of hamburger meat surrounded by a a huge bun made from white bread, supplemented by potatoes fried in questionable oil and drowned in ketchup (essentially high fructose corn syrup with some tomato thrown in). And then washed down by a a single serving of soda that is bigger than what the average person probably drank in a month a year ago!
As far as the Google hits for Med Diet, here's a snippet from the very first one:
"Although these results are quite impressive, there are methodological limitations that raise questions about the true impact of this diet on the risk of recurrent heart disease and related measures."
Again, if you actually read the book, Taubes goes into how the methodology of these "studies" is faulty and doesn't follow the scientific method which call for making a serious effort to disprove your hypothesis.
Here's a another snippet from the "studies":
"And eating vegetables more than eight times a week, fish more than three times a week and legumes more than once a week seems to boost the protection, the researchers said in the journal Thorax."
There are several more like saying the same thing. The fact that red meat is low in some of these diets proves nothing. It's what is IN the diets that allow you to make some inference about the benefits.
You obviously have your mind made up and nothing I post here is going to change it. That's representative of the huge momentum that the "grain-based" school of thought have now. The people who are discovering through the blogosphere that there is some alternative thought pale in comparison to those who get their nutritional information from Parade magazine. It's not likely to change soon. But all I'm saying is read the book or watch the webcast with an open mind, and then make a decision for yourself.
ReplyJust want point out that it is Mr. Taubes not Dr. Taubes.
ReplyIf I don't eat quite a few (complex) carbs during normal (marathon) training, I pass out. Have done it before. I have hypoglycemia (never high blood sugar; been this way since I was a child) and it shows if I start neglecting my carbs.
I believe the US diet consists of way too many simple carbs in people who are not physically active, though.
ReplyWhat a hot discussion. I will try to read this book.
ReplyI am French Mediterranean, and from my pesonal experience and training, I agree with Gary Taubes.
Our diet comprises more meat than Americans think, and cheese on almost a daily basis. So why is it that we manage to stay fairly slim and healthier than Americans. There are really simple reasons:
- our portions are easily half of what is customary in the US
- we eat little refined carbs which come mostly in the form of fresh daily bread
- we eat lots of veggies and fruit, a huge amount by American standards
- we eat a lot of yogurt, proved to curb appetite greatly
- we do a lot of walking
- we hardly snack, feel no urge to.
There really exist compelling evidence today that excess weight is caused mostly eating excessive amounts of refined carbs. Prcessing them creates high demand on insulin production to offset the increase of sugar in blood and over time this causes insulin resistance, one of the most visible physical sign is fat building in the abdomen area.
I understand that some people might feel Taubes' theory is yet another one that might be proved wrong by the next study. Well, if in doubt, I suggest that for those who question his theory they try and eliminate refined carbs for a couple of weeks. Replace them with complex carbs, whole grain bread for white bread, whole wheat pasta for regular pasta , have at least 2 pieces of fruit and a lot more vegetable each day, a yogurt a day for a snack. You'll be amazed at how your cravings go down therefore your need for snacks and see the pounds slowly but surely melt away.
ReplyIf you do this, and keep your portions reasonable, you will see results.
Thank you Gary for shaking widly accepted beliefs.
This book is AMAZING! I checked it out from the library and have now bought my own copy. The research is astoundingly broad and thorough. My undergraduate program (Nutrition) was steeped in the conventional "low fat" wisdom, but I have always had an open mind because of my personal battles with losing weight on that type of plan. This book is for anyone who is interested in the longterm health.
ReplyHe is very forthright about NOT being a Dr. This actually helps support his hypothesis because he "doesn't have a dog in the fight". He simply looked at ALL of the research to come to a conclusion. Much of the book is devoted to pointing out research that contradicts or at the very least does NOT support common knowledge. It was this research that was ignored in order for certain theories to propogate.
ReplyI'm n
I'm not sure replacing white bread/pasta with whole-wheat saves that many carbs. I think the key is portion size.
ReplyI was just making the point that carbs are conditionally essential. I used to think that only protein and fats are essential. But if one's body can't make glucose fast enough from protein, then they might need to eat carbs to fuel the brain.
But I also wanted to make the point that carbs can be found in animal sources, such as liver and milk. A person can get all their nutritional needs met from eating only animals, but not from eating only plants.
ReplyYou're missing the point. It's not just the amount of carbs--it's the type of carbs. The refined bread promotes a more pronounced insulin response. Fresh, whole grain bread dipped in olive-oil is a different creature than that white stuff!! But I was a convert to "paleo" style eating before I read Taubes so I rarely eat grains of any kind--refined or not. I'm sure there are people who's tolerance of carbs allows them to eat some bread without a lot of bad consequences, but they are certainly better off with whole grain.
ReplyGood post, Ourdia--thanks! There are something like 15-16 countries that border the Med. Grouping everyone in to one phrase--The Mediteranean Diet--is another problem when trying to discuss/study this subject.
You mentioned one other thing that I have added to my diet--yogurt. I eat Greek-style yogurt with fruit--not the sugar laden offerings usually found on the grocery shelves.
ReplyQuite frankly, since age 21 (noe 47), I began a very simple routine to lose 12 lbs of body fat while aiming to gain 3 lbs of lean muscle. It did not have me wasting any money on any diet, drug, rub, lotion, potion or program. I simply followed the (now New) Food Pyramid, committed to 30 minutes of cardio in my target heart range 4-5 days each week and 2 full-body strength training circuits 3x each week, and got 7-8 hours of sleep each night. 87 days later, my goal was accomplished. 26 years later, I retain those numbers and continue on with my routine.
ReplyWhat was that expression from an advertisement some years ago?..."Try it. You'll like it!"
All the best, Dr. Dave @ fat2trim.com
Just wanted to chime in here, because I find this discussion fascinating. I haven't yet read Mr. Taubes' book (though I'm in queue for it at the library) but speaking from my own experience I find that following Mr. Pollan's advice works best for me: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
ReplyEating whole plant-based foods (like vegetables and whole grains) generally makes me feel healthier and less hungry, even on smaller portions. Exercise, of course, is part of this as well as avoiding processed/refined foods. I do eat meat, in moderation, as well as dairy and eggs. At least for me, it seems important to eat a variety of good, healthy foods in order to feel my best.
After eating this way for several months, I ate a snack pack of chocolate chip cookies last week and afterwards felt physically ill. I won't be doing that again soon. I think if we listen to our bodies, we're more likely to eat the foods our bodies need.