Gary Taubes

KetoBella

BrainyBurro (smartass) the answer to your question is yes. I tracked my calories and exercised based on the calories in and calories out theory and got nowhere fast. For me being carbohydrate sensitive made eating even so called healthy carbs was a challenge. I was hungry and always craving food. My willpower no matter how strong at the get go would always get to a point of thinking if this is what it takes to be thin I would rather stay fat.

Eating healthy fats and keeping my carbs low changed everything. I no longer have blood sugar spikes causing cravings and hunger, I feel energetic and my mood is wonderful. I have no doubt for me this is the only solution to improved health. Diets don't work and you have to find a lifestyle that you can live with. I am sure there a some people that have been successful doing it a different way but that is the point. Just because something isn't effective for you as an individual does not mean it is not the exact right thing for someone else.

TheVimFuego

Check out James Krieger at weightology.net to get a good rebuttal to Taubes.

IMO: Taubes is wrong.

I've read both Taubes books and a few more along the same lines (carbs=insulin=fat storage) and they are all missing some vital information.

I agree, Krieger's response is well worth a read.

Taubes talks a good fight but is, ultimately, wrong.

TheVimFuego

And, what effect do hormones have on weight loss, which he talks about?

Insulin has been demonised, it is necessary for many things, not just shuttling fat into storage.

Just burn more than you consume ... There is no magic hormone fix for most IMO.

rainybblady

BrainyBurro (smartass) the answer to your question is yes. I tracked my calories and exercised based on the calories in and calories out theory and got nowhere fast. For me being carbohydrate sensitive made eating even so called healthy carbs was a challenge. I was hungry and always craving food. My willpower no matter how strong at the get go would always get to a point of thinking if this is what it takes to be thin I would rather stay fat.

Eating healthy fats and keeping my carbs low changed everything. I no longer have blood sugar spikes causing cravings and hunger, I feel energetic and my mood is wonderful. I have no doubt for me this is the only solution to improved health. Diets don't work and you have to find a lifestyle that you can live with. I am sure there a some people that have been successful doing it a different way but that is the point. Just because something isn't effective for you as an individual does not mean it is not the exact right thing for someone else.

THIS!!! ^^ I have read his books and watched many of his lectures. Gary Taubes is a very intelligent man who did research on the subject of excess carbohydrate intake as an answer to the obesity epidemic. His research is extensive to say the least! I must add that I do not agree with every single thing that he talks about, but he is definitely on the right track.

tuckerrj

I've only read a few of his articles and hypothesis, but check this out:

Taubes has won the Science in Society Journalism Award of the National Association of Science Writers three times and was awarded an MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship for 1996-97. He is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation independent investigator in health policy.

Doesn't sound like a snake oil salesman to me. . . .

lisajsund

Anyone else want to reveal what they have read?
Or what part of what Taubes theorizes they disagree with specifically?

lisajsund

And, what effect do hormones have on weight loss, which he talks about?

Insulin has been demonised, it is necessary for many things, not just shuttling fat into storage.

Just burn more than you consume ... There is no magic hormone fix for most IMO.

What about other hormones - glucagon, ghrelin, leptin, estrogen, testosterone, etc?
They all play a part, not just insulin.

RllyGudTweetr

In.

PaleoPath4Lyfe

And, what effect do hormones have on weight loss, which he talks about?

Insulin has been demonised, it is necessary for many things, not just shuttling fat into storage.

Just burn more than you consume ... There is no magic hormone fix for most IMO.

What about other hormones - glucagon, ghrelin, leptin, estrogen, testosterone, etc?
They all play a part, not just insulin.

They all play a part in the function of the human body and when those hormone levels get skewed and off, it wreaks havoc on every system in the body.

Those of us women that have PCOS that assists in leading to Insulin resistance and ultimately T2 Diabetes, eating too much has NOTHING to do with the way our bodies work.

I was barely eating anything (between 800-1000 calories per day) low fat, high carb............full of whole grains as my
Registered Dietician had recommended and I was steadily gaining weight.

When a woman in particular has excess Estrogen that gets converted to testosterone, weird things begin to happen in the body............marked weight gain, lack of monthly periods, acne you never had before......male pattern hair loss and / or hair growth, etc............

We all know the parts that Ghrelin and Leptin play in the hunger response system. If both or one of these mechanisms is broken or impaired, out of control appetite ensues.

Hormones in total play the biggest part in the obesity epidemic.

Yes, there are people that grossly over eat................and then there are those of us that don't over eat and are still very overweight due to hormone issues that are getting lined out.

jen_zz

I do low carb but I don't worship Taubes. I believe everyone is different and some people can eat 300 grams of carbs and be perfectly healthy. I am skeptical of anyone who demonizes anything. I prefer Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney who take a moderate stance on carbs--some people can eat lots, some people benefit by lowering them.

lisajsund

I'd like to see the scientific research it is based on. From what I have heard, it is zero.

It based on a lot of research - but you have to read his bookd or his articles. If you haven't read it and only going by hearsay, you haven't educated yourself on the topic.

That is what I'm doing - reading it for myself and getting others' thoughts.

lisajsund

I've read one of his books (Why We Get Fat...), I wasn't impressed.

What specifically didn't impress you?

SideSteel

I'd like to see the scientific research it is based on. From what I have heard, it is zero.

It based on a lot of research - but you have to read his bookd or his articles. If you haven't read it and only going by hearsay, you haven't educated yourself on the topic.

That is what I'm doing - reading it for myself and getting others' thoughts.

The complicating issue with citing sources is that it is quite easy for someone to select only the research that supports his or her conclusion and neglect to consider research that refutes said conclusion/premise.

So you can claim something is "based on science" but if you cite 3 studies to support yourself and there's 15 studies that say the opposite of what you're claiming, then you're not really considering the body of evidence as a whole.

Have you read James Krieger's work yet?

lisajsund

Some of the things Taubes says are just completely wackado...

"You don't get fat because you eat too much, you eat too much because you are fat."

Yeah, but, how did you get there in the first place?

So, paleojoe, do you know what research led Taubes to this conclusion? He didn't actually do the research himself, of course - he's an author. It was an experiement on rats and removing specific hormones.
And, if you believe Taubes is wrong - do you believe then, that all people who are overweight or obese are lacking will power and have no strength of character? Couldn't there, even a chance, that there could be something physiologically wrong in the body?

SideSteel

And, if you believe Taubes is wrong - do you believe then, that all people who are overweight or obese are lacking will power and have no strength of character? Couldn't there, even a chance, that there could be something physiologically wrong in the body?

I think disagreeing with Taubes and believing that

all people who are overweight or obese are lacking will power and have no strength of character?

are worlds apart with a massive grey area in between. That seems like a pretty big false dilemma.

Holly_Roman_Empire

OP, Taubes has been debated and discussed at length on MFP. You're not going to uncover anything that hasn't already been refuted at some point.

lisajsund

I'd like to see the scientific research it is based on. From what I have heard, it is zero.

It based on a lot of research - but you have to read his bookd or his articles. If you haven't read it and only going by hearsay, you haven't educated yourself on the topic.

That is what I'm doing - reading it for myself and getting others' thoughts.

The complicating issue with citing sources is that it is quite easy for someone to select only the research that supports his or her conclusion and neglect to consider research that refutes said conclusion/premise.

So you can claim something is "based on science" but if you cite 3 studies to support yourself and there's 15 studies that say the opposite of what you're claiming, then you're not really considering the body of evidence as a whole.

Have you read James Krieger's work yet?

I'll admit, I have not - but I will. I've been reading through Why We Get Fat.
So, SideSteel, would you believe there is a chance, no matter how small, that there could be a wacky problem in the body that "aids" in fat accumulation at all?

QuilterInVA

There is a ton of scientific evidence that low carb does help some medical conditions such as seizure disorders and diabetes. I do low carb but Taubes has to be taken with a grain of salt.

SideSteel

I'd like to see the scientific research it is based on. From what I have heard, it is zero.

It based on a lot of research - but you have to read his bookd or his articles. If you haven't read it and only going by hearsay, you haven't educated yourself on the topic.

That is what I'm doing - reading it for myself and getting others' thoughts.

The complicating issue with citing sources is that it is quite easy for someone to select only the research that supports his or her conclusion and neglect to consider research that refutes said conclusion/premise.

So you can claim something is "based on science" but if you cite 3 studies to support yourself and there's 15 studies that say the opposite of what you're claiming, then you're not really considering the body of evidence as a whole.

Have you read James Krieger's work yet?

I'll admit, I have not - but I will. I've been reading through Why We Get Fat.
So, SideSteel, would you believe there is a chance, no matter how small, that there could be a wacky problem in the body that "aids" in fat accumulation at all?

Fat accumulation is caused by chronic energy surplus (overconsuming calories over time).

That being said, I also believe that it's reductionist to claim that weight loss is all willpower and nothing else. Obesity is a complex scenario with a multitude of factors that contribute to it and/or contribute to resistance to weight loss.

So while we can say accurately that calorie surpluses lead to fat accumulation and calorie deficits lead to fat loss, that's not necessarily going to help the person who can't manage to adhere to their diet for whatever reason.

See here so you can find the specific links to Krieger's work:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/817143-insulin-low-carbs-gary-taubes-and-james-krieger

WendyTerry420

And, if you believe Taubes is wrong - do you believe then, that all people who are overweight or obese are lacking will power and have no strength of character? Couldn't there, even a chance, that there could be something physiologically wrong in the body?

I think disagreeing with Taubes and believing that

all people who are overweight or obese are lacking will power and have no strength of character?

are worlds apart with a massive grey area in between. That seems like a pretty big false dilemma.

^^ So true!


People get fat for all sorts of reasons. Some people, like me, get so absorbed in their family, work, etc. that they don't even notice that they are eating too much and gaining weight. I was on my way to 300 pounds when it finally took a photograph for me to realize how fat I'd gotten. For me, it had nothing to do with willpower, character, or anything physically wrong with me. I simply let myself get lazy. I didn't even really understand basic nutrition and believed a lot of the myths that Taubes expounds upon.

The *only* things I changed about my lifestyle:

1) Don't be lazy

2) Pay attention to diet and keep on track


I still eat the same things as I did before, just less of it (oh, and I eat more veggies now too).



Also, how does an experiment on hormones tell us *anything* about an obese person with no hormonal issues? This also speaks to SideSteel's comment about cherry-picking. When you pick and choose only research that supports your book, you end up with studies that have nothing to do with the general population.