Good Calories, Bad Calories: Cliffs Notes

In response to my last blog post “Weight Gain:   Calories in, Calories out?”  I’ve had several questions concerning Gary Taubes’ book Good Calories, Bad Calories.  Most questions have been from folks who believe that there are just not enough hours in the day to read a two-inch-thick, nonfiction book on nutrition.   So for those who are only interested in the “cliffs notes” version, you can give a big thanks to Greg of www.gutsandblackstuff.com.  Greg not only provides one-paragraph summaries of each chapter, he also condenses the entire book of 601 pages into ten short sentences:

• Dietary fat does not cause obesity, heart disease or other chronic diseases.
• Refined carbohydrates, through insulin secretion, do.
• Sugars, especially those including fructose, are particularly harmful.
• Refined carbohydrates are the dietary cause of heart disease and diabetes. They are the most likely (but not only) dietary cases of cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and other chronic diseases.
• Obesity is not caused by overeating or sedentary behavior.
• Calorie restriction does not cause long-term weight loss, it causes hunger.
• Fattening and obesity are caused by a hormonal imbalance, which can be driven by diet (e.g. insulin secretion).
• Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage.
• Carbohydrate intake drives insulin, and is therefore proportional to our body composition.
• Carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease energy.

To continue reading Greg’s chapter-by-chapter summary follow the link below:

“A summary of Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes“

My busy friends thank you, Greg!