Book reviews from MindMason

Why We Get Fat

by Gary Taubes

Anyone who has ever followed the Dr. Atkins diet knows that it enables a person to lose weight. Gary Taubes explains the science behind the weight loss. Carbohydrates stimulate the secretion of insulin. Insulin activates lipoprotein lipase (LPL), and LPL causes cells to withdraw calories from the bloodstream and store them in fat cells. The withdrawal makes us continue to be hungry, the storage makes us a tub of guts. To lose weight, we must reduce our consumption of carbohydrates, especially sugars. Taubes does not deny the value of vegetables and some fruit, which are carbohydrates, but he alerts us to the threat posed by cereals, grains, and pasta recommended by the federal government's food pyramid. Those carbohydrates are as dangerous as the federal deficits. He also points out that the condemnation of fats by doctors is based on inference and faith, and not by clear scientific evidence. Statins reduce cholesterol, and that event in the patients taking statins is followed by reduced heart disease. Fats increase cholesterol, therefore, by inference, if we reduce our consumption of fats and the resulting cholesterol, we should reduce heart disease. The problem is that fats, and especially saturated fats, increase the production of HDL particles which make us healthy and sexy. Half the saturated fat in beef is in the form of stearic acid, according to Harvard Medical School, an impeccable source, and our body converts stearic acid into a monounsaturated fat. This is why lions that eat wildebeest live so long and happily. All doctors are at least partially witch doctors. They must study and accept the medical orthodoxy. Taubes challenges the orthodoxy. The reaction from many doctors is predictable, but that doesn't mean Taubes is wrong. It means there is an alternative to voodoo, and it can make us lighter, healthier, and sexier. Read Why We Get Fat and heed.