Gary Taubes
Encyclopedia
Gary Taubes is an American science writer.
He is the author of Nobel Dreams (1987), Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion
(1993), and Good Calories, Bad Calories
(2007), titled The Diet Delusion (2008) in the UK and Australia. His book Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
was released in December 2010. In December 2010 Taubes launched his own blog at GaryTaubes.com to promote the book's release and to respond to critics.
Born in Rochester, New York
, Taubes studied applied physics at Harvard University
and aerospace engineering at Stanford University
(MS, 1978). After receiving a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University
in 1981, Taubes joined Discover magazine
as a staff reporter in 1982. Since then he has written numerous articles for Discover, Science
and other magazines. Originally focusing on physics issues, his interests have more recently turned to medicine and nutrition.
Taubes's books have all dealt with scientific controversies. Nobel Dreams takes a critical look at the politics and experimental techniques behind the Nobel Prize
-winning work of physicist Carlo Rubbia
. Bad Science is a chronicle of the short-lived media frenzy surrounding the Pons
-Fleischmann
cold fusion
experiments of 1989.
His brother, Clifford Henry Taubes
, is the William Petschek Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University.
s, was seen as defending the Atkins diet against the medical establishment, and it became extremely controversial. Taubes himself stated: "[E]ven though I knew the article would be the most controversial article the Times Magazine ran all year, [the reaction] still shocked me." The Center for Science in the Public Interest
published a rebuttal to the Times article in its November 2002 newsletter. According to Taubes: "[T]he CSPI is an advocacy group that has been pushing low-fat diets since the 1970s."
In 2007, Taubes published his book Good Calories, Bad Calories
: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease (published as The Diet Delusion in the UK). This book examined how a hypothesis became dogma and claimed to show how the scientific method
was circumvented so a contestable hypothesis could remain unchallenged. The book uses data and studies compiled from dietary research from as early as the 19th century.
Taubes's hypothesis is that the medical community and the federal government of the United States of America have relied upon misinterpreted scientific data on nutrition to build the prevailing paradigm about what constitutes healthful eating. Taubes makes the case that — contrary to the conventional wisdom — it is refined carbohydrates that are responsible for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and many other maladies of civilization. In the Epilogue to Good Calories, Bad Calories on page 454, Taubes notes ten "inescapable" conclusions, the first of which is:
Taubes includes information and studies which indicate that physical exercise
increases appetite to a degree that makes it an inefficient tool in weight loss. He tracks the origins of commonly accepted dietary advice and aims to show that information that is filtered to the public often contradicts scientific evidence. On October 19, 2007 Taubes appeared on Larry King Live
to discuss his book. Although Taubes has no formal training in nutrition or medicine, his book was praised as "raising interesting and valuable points" by Dr. Andrew Weil
, a believer of alternative medicine, while Dr. Mehmet Oz
and trainer Jillian Michaels
who appeared on the same program disagreed with Taubes on many questions.
The reviews for Good Calories, Bad Calories have varied. Dr. George Bray of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center
in Louisiana
notes in his review that the book "...has much useful information and is well worth reading." but "Obese people clearly eat more than do lean ones."
Taubes, in a letter to the editor in the same journal, clarifies some of the comments made by Bray. Taubes notes, "The hypothesis favored by Bray and a half century of authorities on human obesity is that fat accumulation is fundamentally caused by positive energy balance." Taubes responds, "The alternative hypothesis begins with the fundamental observation that obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation and then asks the obvious question, what regulates fat accumulation. This was elucidated by 1965 and has never been controversial. 'Insulin
is the principle regulator of fat metabolism'..."
John Tierney in his New York Times review entitled "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus", discusses information cascades and the role of Ancel Keys
in widely held beliefs related to diet and fat. Tierney quotes Taubes in noting that "the most rigorous meta-analysis of the clinical trials of low-fat diets, published in 2001 by the Cochrane Collaboration, concluded that they had no significant effect on mortality."
three times and was awarded an MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship
for 1996-97. He is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
independent investigator in health policy.
He is the author of Nobel Dreams (1987), Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion
Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion
Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion is book of science history by Gary Taubes about the early years of the cold fusion controversy. It is not a scholarly work, but a popular retelling of the events, based on interviews with over 260 people...
(1993), and Good Calories, Bad Calories
Good Calories, Bad Calories
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health is a 2007 book by science journalist Gary Taubes. Taubes argues that the last few decades of dietary advice promoting low-fat diets has been consistently incorrect...
(2007), titled The Diet Delusion (2008) in the UK and Australia. His book Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It is a 2010 book by science writer Gary Taubes. Following Taubes’s 2007 book Good Calories, Bad Calories, in which he argues that the modern diet’s inclusion of too many refined carbohydrates is a primary contributor to the obesity epidemic, he elaborates in...
was released in December 2010. In December 2010 Taubes launched his own blog at GaryTaubes.com to promote the book's release and to respond to critics.
Born in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, Taubes studied applied physics at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and aerospace engineering at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
(MS, 1978). After receiving a master's degree in journalism at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1981, Taubes joined Discover magazine
Discover (magazine)
Discover is an American science magazine that publishes articles about science for a general audience. The monthly magazine was launched in October 1980 by Time Inc. It was sold to Family Media, the owners of Health, in 1987. Walt Disney Company bought the magazine when Family Media went out of...
as a staff reporter in 1982. Since then he has written numerous articles for Discover, Science
Science (journal)
Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
and other magazines. Originally focusing on physics issues, his interests have more recently turned to medicine and nutrition.
Taubes's books have all dealt with scientific controversies. Nobel Dreams takes a critical look at the politics and experimental techniques behind the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
-winning work of physicist Carlo Rubbia
Carlo Rubbia
Carlo Rubbia Knight Grand Cross is an Italian particle physicist and inventor who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984 with Simon van der Meer for work leading to the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN.-Biography:...
. Bad Science is a chronicle of the short-lived media frenzy surrounding the Pons
Stanley Pons
Bobby Stanley Pons is an American-French electrochemist known for his work with Martin Fleischmann on cold fusion in the 1980s and '90s.-Early life:...
-Fleischmann
Martin Fleischmann
Martin Fleischmann is a British chemist noted for his work in electrochemistry. He came to wider public prominence following his controversial publication of work with colleague Stanley Pons on cold fusion using palladium in the 1980s and '90s.-Early life:Born in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia,...
cold fusion
Cold fusion
Cold fusion, also called low-energy nuclear reaction , refers to the hypothesis that nuclear fusion might explain the results of a group of experiments conducted at ordinary temperatures . Both the experimental results and the hypothesis are disputed...
experiments of 1989.
His brother, Clifford Henry Taubes
Clifford Taubes
Clifford Henry Taubes is the William Petschek Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University and works in gauge field theory, differential geometry, and low-dimensional topology.-Early career:Taubes received his Ph.D...
, is the William Petschek Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University.
Dietary science
Taubes gained prominence in the low-carb diet debate following the publication of his 2002 New York Times Magazine piece "What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?". The article, which questioned the efficacy and health benefits of low-fat dietLow-fat diet
According to the USDA, a low-fat diet as the name implies is a diet that consists of little fat, especially saturated fat and cholesterol, which are thought to lead to increased blood cholesterol levels and heart attack...
s, was seen as defending the Atkins diet against the medical establishment, and it became extremely controversial. Taubes himself stated: "[E]ven though I knew the article would be the most controversial article the Times Magazine ran all year, [the reaction] still shocked me." The Center for Science in the Public Interest
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Center for Science in the Public Interest is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit watchdog and consumer advocacy group focusing on nutritional education and awareness.-History and funding:...
published a rebuttal to the Times article in its November 2002 newsletter. According to Taubes: "[T]he CSPI is an advocacy group that has been pushing low-fat diets since the 1970s."
In 2007, Taubes published his book Good Calories, Bad Calories
Good Calories, Bad Calories
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health is a 2007 book by science journalist Gary Taubes. Taubes argues that the last few decades of dietary advice promoting low-fat diets has been consistently incorrect...
: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease (published as The Diet Delusion in the UK). This book examined how a hypothesis became dogma and claimed to show how the scientific method
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
was circumvented so a contestable hypothesis could remain unchallenged. The book uses data and studies compiled from dietary research from as early as the 19th century.
Taubes's hypothesis is that the medical community and the federal government of the United States of America have relied upon misinterpreted scientific data on nutrition to build the prevailing paradigm about what constitutes healthful eating. Taubes makes the case that — contrary to the conventional wisdom — it is refined carbohydrates that are responsible for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and many other maladies of civilization. In the Epilogue to Good Calories, Bad Calories on page 454, Taubes notes ten "inescapable" conclusions, the first of which is:
Taubes includes information and studies which indicate that physical exercise
Physical exercise
Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of...
increases appetite to a degree that makes it an inefficient tool in weight loss. He tracks the origins of commonly accepted dietary advice and aims to show that information that is filtered to the public often contradicts scientific evidence. On October 19, 2007 Taubes appeared on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
to discuss his book. Although Taubes has no formal training in nutrition or medicine, his book was praised as "raising interesting and valuable points" by Dr. Andrew Weil
Andrew Weil
Andrew Thomas Weil is an American author and physician, who established the field of integrative medicine which attempts to integrate alternative and conventional medicine. Weil is the author of several best-selling books and operates a website and monthly newsletter promoting general health and...
, a believer of alternative medicine, while Dr. Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Cengiz Oz , also known as Dr. Oz, is a Turkish-American cardiothoracic surgeon, author, talk show host, and commentator for The Dr. Oz Show, a daily television program focusing on medical issues/personal health....
and trainer Jillian Michaels
Jillian Michaels (personal trainer)
Jillian Michaels is a celebrity personal trainer, reality show personality, direct-response television pitchwoman, and entrepreneur from Los Angeles, California...
who appeared on the same program disagreed with Taubes on many questions.
The reviews for Good Calories, Bad Calories have varied. Dr. George Bray of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
The Pennington Biomedical Research Center, located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a campus of the Louisiana State University System and conducts both clinical and basic research. According to its website, its mission is to promote healthier lives through research and education in nutrition and...
in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
notes in his review that the book "...has much useful information and is well worth reading." but "Obese people clearly eat more than do lean ones."
Taubes, in a letter to the editor in the same journal, clarifies some of the comments made by Bray. Taubes notes, "The hypothesis favored by Bray and a half century of authorities on human obesity is that fat accumulation is fundamentally caused by positive energy balance." Taubes responds, "The alternative hypothesis begins with the fundamental observation that obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation and then asks the obvious question, what regulates fat accumulation. This was elucidated by 1965 and has never been controversial. 'Insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
is the principle regulator of fat metabolism'..."
John Tierney in his New York Times review entitled "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus", discusses information cascades and the role of Ancel Keys
Ancel Keys
Ancel Benjamin Keys was an American scientist who studied the influence of diet on health. In particular, he hypothesized that different kinds of dietary fat had different effects on health....
in widely held beliefs related to diet and fat. Tierney quotes Taubes in noting that "the most rigorous meta-analysis of the clinical trials of low-fat diets, published in 2001 by the Cochrane Collaboration, concluded that they had no significant effect on mortality."
Awards
Taubes has won the Science in Society Journalism Award of the National Association of Science WritersNational Association of Science Writers
The National Association of Science Writers was created in 1934 by a dozen science journalists and reporters in New York City. The aim of the organization was to improve the craft of science journalism and to promote good science reportage....
three times and was awarded an MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship
Knight Science Journalism Fellowships
Knight Science Journalism Fellowships, a program hosted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology , offers fellowships to experienced journalists who specialize in science and technology, medicine or the environment. The program also accepts journalists who wish to cover these subjects...
for 1996-97. He is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the United States' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans...
independent investigator in health policy.
Publications
- Epidemiology Faces Its Limits, ScienceScience (journal)Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, July 1995. - Nobel Gas, SlateSlate (magazine)Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, October 11, 1997. - The Soft Science of Dietary Fat, ScienceScience (journal)Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, March 2001. - What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?, New York Times Magazine, July 7, 2002.
- Do We Really Know What Makes Us Healthy?, New York Times, September 17, 2007. (Also published as The Diet Delusion ISBN 978-0091891411)
- Is Sugar Toxic?. The New York Times, April 13, 2011.
External links
- Webcast of Lecture by Gary Taubes at University of California, Berkeley -- "The Quality of Calories: What Makes Us Fat and Why Nobody Seems to Care"
- Webcast of Lecture by Gary Taubes at Stevens Institute of Technology, Center for Science Writings, Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2/6/2008 -- "Big Fat Lies"
- Article by Gary Taubes questioning the efficacy of exercise in weight loss -- "We Can't Work It Out"
- Excerpt from Good Calories, Bad Calories and NPR interview -- "Not All Calories Are Created Equal, Author Says".
- Interview with Gary Taubes by Knight Fellowships at MIT
- Interview with Gary Taubes by John Horgan (Stevens Center for Science Writing, Cross-check): "Science Saturday: Why We Get Fat"