Gary Taubes wrote a brilliantly researched and supported book giving the history of it all: Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
It took me months to finish it when first published. Whenever he made a contentious statement (there are over 130 pages of notes and bibliography) I got sidetracked checking as many as I could. I never found one he had misquoted or which did not support his statements.
Leptin is the new kid on the block, but leptin cannot do its own job if insulin is always too elevated. It has been decades now that we've known insulin, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are the drivers of obesity (and also help cause other major diseases of civilization). These are caused by constantly eating too many carbohydrates (humans are omnivores but as we get closer to present-day it's obvious we have a carnivore bend to our evolution and our bodies simply can't handle the high carb diets we're currently eating).
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Read this book and you will understand why what I've just told you was on the losing side of a political battle, and is thus mostly ignored. Or start by listening to the first 20-30 minutes of this interview or to this and this to get an idea of what's in the book (note: Gary emphasizes obesity but then talks about the other diseases of civilization. Obviously he's just a starting point as well but he properly documents the general incompetence of nutrition/disease prevention researchers).
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Only highly competent doctors who are focused on disease prevention have managed figure this stuff out - even then, some didn't believe it either until they saw patients that seemed to contradict what they were taught. Or in the case of Terry Wahls and Richard K. Bernstein, they were well on their way to dying and had to do something to heal themselves.
by hitssquad 2019-08-24
Broccoli is not packed with vitamins, and fiber is not needed in the diet: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462
"Take in fewer calories than you burn, put yourself in negative energy balance, lose weight,” says Braun, who has been studying exercise and weight loss for years."
Weight loss is not this simple - this kind of article enrages me. Everyone wants it to be an easy equation. Low carbohydrate/high fat diets are wildly successful despite not having to monitor calories. All calories are not created equal and simply eating less does not lead to long term weight loss, it leads to hunger.
I know many have talked about this idea on HN before, but in case you missed it, an excellent, eye-opening read is Gary Taubes' book, Good Calories Bad Calories - http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Scienc...
The amount of highly processed carbohydrates is frightening and far from "healthy"[1]. It's unfortunate, but to eat healthy costs more, because healthy food spoils.
I look at it like this: if a food doesn't spoil[2], it is most likely because bacteria and fungus can get no nutritional value from it. Do I want to eat that?
Gary Taubes wrote a brilliantly researched and supported book giving the history of it all: Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
It took me months to finish it when first published. Whenever he made a contentious statement (there are over 130 pages of notes and bibliography) I got sidetracked checking as many as I could. I never found one he had misquoted or which did not support his statements.
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/
Triglycerides are lipids. They aren't cholesterols.
> Bad cholesterol in general means LDL
Your information is 40 years out of date: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/
https://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/
book recommendation
Leptin is the new kid on the block, but leptin cannot do its own job if insulin is always too elevated. It has been decades now that we've known insulin, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance are the drivers of obesity (and also help cause other major diseases of civilization). These are caused by constantly eating too many carbohydrates (humans are omnivores but as we get closer to present-day it's obvious we have a carnivore bend to our evolution and our bodies simply can't handle the high carb diets we're currently eating).
​
Read this book and you will understand why what I've just told you was on the losing side of a political battle, and is thus mostly ignored. Or start by listening to the first 20-30 minutes of this interview or to this and this to get an idea of what's in the book (note: Gary emphasizes obesity but then talks about the other diseases of civilization. Obviously he's just a starting point as well but he properly documents the general incompetence of nutrition/disease prevention researchers).
​
Only highly competent doctors who are focused on disease prevention have managed figure this stuff out - even then, some didn't believe it either until they saw patients that seemed to contradict what they were taught. Or in the case of Terry Wahls and Richard K. Bernstein, they were well on their way to dying and had to do something to heal themselves.
Broccoli is not packed with vitamins, and fiber is not needed in the diet: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462
Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Scienc...
Weight loss is not this simple - this kind of article enrages me. Everyone wants it to be an easy equation. Low carbohydrate/high fat diets are wildly successful despite not having to monitor calories. All calories are not created equal and simply eating less does not lead to long term weight loss, it leads to hunger.
I know many have talked about this idea on HN before, but in case you missed it, an excellent, eye-opening read is Gary Taubes' book, Good Calories Bad Calories - http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Scienc...
I look at it like this: if a food doesn't spoil[2], it is most likely because bacteria and fungus can get no nutritional value from it. Do I want to eat that?
1. http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Scienc...
2. There are some exceptions, of course, but surprisingly few.