January Reading: The Case Against Sugar

Leave a comment
sugar

My first read of the new year, The Case Against Sugar by the man whose done more to influenced the nutrition debate over the last 10+ years than anyone else, Gary Taubes.

I try avoiding sugar as much as possible. It jacks up my blood sugar and insulin levels too much. It’s why I don’t eat fruit (with the exception of the occasional berry).

The only way to really avoid it is to not eat any processed foods — it’s loaded with sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup or the more than 50+ names sugar goes by.  But is sugar really the new tobacco?

Today I start Gary Taubes’ new book, The Case Against Sugar. As readers know, I’m a huge fan of Taubes. His Why We Get Fat is the book that saved my life and set me down my ketogenic path.

Taubes did a great job taking down the bad science behind the idea that dietary fat (saturated fat in particular) was causing heart attacks, obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and recent growth of cancers. Looks like he’s putting the spotlight on the real culprit.

Review: The Big Fat Surprise

9 Comments
A must read, The Big Fat Surprise is a gripping page turner. A true whodunit when it comes to our bad diet.

A must read, The Big Fat Surprise is a gripping page turner. A true whodunit when it comes to our bad diet.

It’s said the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Turns out our current dietary road started much the same. Nina Teicholz’s thriller, The Big Fat Surprise, is a fascinating page-turner. It exposes how our country embraced a diet that was supposed to save us from heart-disease, but instead led to obesity, diabetes, and a host of other metabolic diseases.

Don’t be scared off by the book’s size (336 pages plus 62 pages of footnotes) — it is a gripping read that lays out a detailed history of how our nation’s nutrition went off the rails. That’s not to say there isn’t any science in the book. There is, and Teicholz makes it easy for the layperson to understand.

There are many moments in the book where you’ll want to bang your head against the wall and shout, “What the hell?!” Many times while reading, my husband heard me raging how we’ve been deceived — sometimes intentionally — by so-called “experts,” politicians, and nutritional busy bodies who swear they only want to help. Read More

How You Get Fat In 12 Steps

1 Comment

This infographic from Massive Health does the best job at summing up my favorite nutrition science book, Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes. If  you want to lose weight, I suggest reading this book first.

Understand how your body processes the types of food you eat will help you make better choices.

I only have one issue with the graphic. With Atkins, you can’t eat all the protein and fat you want. That’s a myth.

Carbs_Are_Killing_You

 

Why We Get Fat

1 Comment

This week has been a bit rough. I’ve had pizza, fries and lots o’ wine…not exactly healthy fare. Plus sleeping in beat out early morning yoga classes. Other than the bowling on Monday night, I’ve been a veg all week.

I eat bad, my sleep gets screwed up. My sleep gets screwed up, I eat bad.

Ugh, it is so hard to get back on track.

So to help motivate me, I dusted off my well worn copy of Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes – my catalyst for dropping 60 pounds and why I’m now a size 22 instead of a 28 (sweeeet!).

why we get fat

If you haven’t read it, I suggest you do. It demolishes nutrition dogma of the last 60 years using science and the chemistry of how our bodies actually work.  Want to loose weight? Then forget about calories-in/calories-out.

I think this book worked for me because it isn’t a diet book. It just takes a hard look at the science that many diet and nutrition ideas are based on and shows how the nutrition community ignore how our bodies actually work.  Taubes’ writing really hit home that it’s not a diet, but relearning what to eat (and chucking out that damn USDA food pyramid). All of those low-fat foods I was buying were in fact helping me gain weight – holy crap! Just thinking about it ticks me off.

Ahh…The rut is over.