Lets look at the national trend lines about fat consumption, obesity and overweight to see if there are any more clues. In the mid 70’s, for example, national fat consumption was around 40%. Today it’s around 33%. This is a statistically significant change that could not have happened by random chance. In the mid 70’s the national obesity rate was around 12%. Now it’s 33%. In the 70’s, the national overweight rate was around 30%. Now it’s 66%. So as a nation we’re eating less fat, but we’re fatter than ever. The low-fat/low-calorie party line has been around 40 years now, and the spectacularly unsuccessful results speak for themselves.
Taubes also has something radical to say about what causes horizontal growth or fat. The conventional, accepted theory is that we eat more, and therefore we grow fat. Taubes, however, says we’ve got it backwards because all growth (whether it’s horizontal, vertical, tumor or pregnancy) is triggered by hormonal stimulation, not caloric intake. Or said another way, caloric intake follows an increase in mass. Teenagers, for example, eat more when they start growing not the other way around. (A teenager doesn’t grow taller because he or she eats more calories.) Similarly, growth in fat tissue, which is stimulated by insulin, drives overeating. It’s truly rare and very exciting to hear a truly revolutionary scientific idea like this one.
If you read Why We Get Fat, as I hope you will, you’ll have to make a special effort not to get angry as you come to realize we cannot trust the research community and health organizations that supposedly exist for our benefit. The book shines an uncomfortable spotlight on “the surprisingly dismal state of nutrition and chronic disease research.”. We deserve better.
Article comments
1 - Rachael Pontillo
I am going to check this one out. It is so true that you cannot trust researchers at all. For every study saying one thing, there are twenty out there saying the exact opposite. It will be interesting to get a different point of view.
I think it isn't just fat/caloric intake that is the problem it is unhealthy, processed food and all of the fillers, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colors, etc. People ate this in the seventies, but not to the extent that they do today. More people still ate whole foods and home cooked meals. People need to start doing that again.
2 - Dana
Rachael, it's not fat intake or caloric intake that's the problem *at all*. You are going to get completely different results from eating 2000 calories of fat a day than you will from eating 2000 calories of carbohydrate. IF you can manage 2000 calories of fat. Fat, unlike protein or carbohydrate, induces true satiety on a biochemical level.
In every society that has had significant amounts of carbohydrate foods in their cuisine, there has been health damage and even obesity in those individuals who chose or were forced to eat a greater percentage of their diet as carbohydrate foods. The field of paleopathology shows that since the advent of grain agriculture we have become shorter, more prone to tooth decay and more susceptible to disease. Even ancient Egyptian art showed Pharoahs with pot bellies. None of this is anything new; we used to know, as a society, that sugar and starch caused overweight. We've been snookered by industrial food interests, the scientists whose research they've funded, and the politicians whose votes they buy.
3 - Sandra Neary
We were lucky enough to read Taube's "Good Calories, Bad Calories" about two years ago and make several adjustments to the way we (used to) eat that have had remarkable results. I thank Karen Bentley for this complete and thoughtful assessment of "Why We Get Fat". We include whole grains in our diet as well as lots of fresh vegies, but have eliminated virtually all sugar (including lactose and fructose) and all refined or processed foods. End result: we are much healthier and have lost a lot of weight. One small comment: in the "70's" a lot of simple carb food was eaten far less regularly than it is today - a "treat" was once a month or once a year, not once a week or once a day. I believe that sort of "reward" eating is one of the factors influencing today's trend towards obesity.
4 - Paul
When ever I live abroad, I lose weight, when I come back to the States, I gain it back. Learning to cook for myself helped a lot, too, because I was eating food instead of processed junk. Add to this cars making us a sitting society, and I'd say being unhealthy is built into the system.
5 - Jeff
You failed to mention that there are absolutely NO studies that equate fat intake with weight gain, heart disease or diabetes.
You are absolutely wrong.
6 - Flip
Recent research suggests that a baby born today has a life-span of 80. So how 'bout we just stop sweating so much about what we should and shouldn't eat, and just enjoy life? Everything in moderation, right? There's bigger issues in this world to get uptight about than "carbs or fats".