Thinking obesity is due to lack of will power leaves human biology out of the equation, Gary Taubes

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Wednesday, January 11, 2012 12:02 pm Email this article
"In 1978, Susan Sontag published an essay called Illness as Metaphor, in which she discussed cancer and tuberculosis and the 'blame the victim' mentality that often accompanied these diseases in different eras.

"Theories that diseases are caused by mental states and can be cured by will power," Sontag wrote, "are always an index of how much is not understood about the physical terrain of a disease," Gary Taubes writes in his excellent book Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It.

"So long as we believe that people get fat because they overeat, because they take in more calories than they expend, we're putting the ultimate blame on a mental state, a weakness of character, and we're leaving human biology out of the equation entirely."

"Sontag had it right: it's a mistake to think this way about any disease. And it's been disastrous when it comes to the question of why we get fat."

Taubes notes repeatedly in his book that obesity is NOT simply due to an imbalance of calories-in versus calories-out or due to a lack of willpower, but rather due to hormones, especially insulin, which regulate food intake and the amount of body fat we store and where we store it.

Taubes wants us to realize that looking at obesity as a problem of will power or as simply a behavioral problem is ridiculous, and notes that we will never solve this problem until we understand the cause.

This is a MUST-READ Book

This is MUST-READ book for anyone interested in body weight

This is MUST-READ book for anyone interested in body weight… or anyone who believes that saturated fat is bad for you… or anyone who believes that carbohydrates are good for you… or anyone who believes that obesity is caused by a lack of will power… or anyone who believes that obesity is caused by eating too much and exercising too little (yes, of course this is true, but this does not answer the question as to why people eat too much and exercise too little, which Taubes answers in this book).

I highly recommend this book.

Gary Taubes is an excellent science journalist.

His previous books include “Good Calories, Bad Calories”, a longer book which is also about low-carb diets, but is a much longer book.

 

Other Articles from This Book, Why We Get Fat

Articles from Gary Taubes current book, Why We Get Fat

Gaining 5 lbs of muscle only burns an extra 24 calories per day notes Gary Taubes

Two obesity experts failed to mention that women lost no weight training for a marathon, Gary Taubes

The idea that exercise causes weight loss ignores the idea of working up an appetite, Gary Taubes

The idea that exercise causes weight loss due to nutritionist Jean Mayer, notes Gary Taubes

Exercise increases appetite notes Gary Taubes

1932 obesity researcher noted that strenuous physical exercise SLOWS weight loss, Gary Taubes

Very little evidence exists to support the belief that exercise affects how fat we are, Gary Taubes

Undereating isn’t a treatment or cure for obesity, only a way to temporarily lose weight Gary Taubes

Low-calorie diets were referred to as ‘semi-starvation’ diets until the 1970’s notes Gary Taubes

Eating less to lose weight simply doesn’t work for more than a few months notes Gary Taubes

Low-calorie diets cause only modest weight loss of 9 or 10 lbs notes Gary Taubes

Success of low-calorie diets are remarkably poor noted Albert Stunkard in 1959, notes Gary Taubes

Fat is associated with poverty, not prosperity notes Gary Taubes

If you want to lose weight, avoid stay away from carbohydrate-rich foods says Gary Taubes

Obesity is the result of a hormonal imbalance—too much insulin—says Gary Taubes

Carbohydrate is driving insulin is driving fat, Gary Taubes

When insulin levels are elevated, we gain fat, when it falls, we release fat to burned, Gary Taubes

It is absurd to think about obesity as caused by overeating, Gary Taubes

We don’t get fat because we eat too much and move too little, Gary Taubes

In 1934, German doctor startled by how many really fat children she saw in New York City

 

Other Articles from Good Calories, Bad Calories

Articles about Gary Taubes previous book, Good Calories, Bad Calories

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Foods to Avoid

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Foods you can eat as much as you want of

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Good calories from meat, fish, fowl, cheese, eggs, butter

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Bad calories from Bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, cereals, corn

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Dietary fat does not cause heart disease

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Carbohydrates cause heart disease due to insulin

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Sugar and high fructose corn syrup are particularly harmful

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Refined carbohydrates cause cancer, Alzheimers, & other diseases

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Obesity is not due to overeating or lack of exercise

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Exercise does not make us lose excess fat; it makes us hungry

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: A hormonal imbalance causes us to get fat

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Insulin regulates fat storage

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: Insulin regulates fat storage

From ‘Good Calories, Bad Calories’: The fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be

 

Contact Info

Contact info for Gary Taubes

Gary Taubes
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Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Book - Why We Get Fat (by Gary Taubes)

• Taubes, Gary