Good Calories, Bad Calories
Encyclopedia
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health (published as The Diet Delusion in the UK and Australia
) 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. Taubes contends that carbohydrates
, specifically refined carbohydrates like white flour, sugar
, and starches, contribute to obesity
, diabetes, heart disease
, and other ailments. Taubes posits a causal link between carbohydrates and cancer
, as well.
in response to the consumption of carbohydrates in order to regulate blood sugar
. This process, in turn, drives the body to store fat
.
Taubes elaborates by examining evidence of the effects of carbohydrates on tribes with a “traditional” diet high in meat or fat and low in carbohydrates. He finds that the introduction of refined carbohydrates in the diets in these cultures resulted in increased prominence of diseases of civilization like obesity and heart disease.
, calls the book “well-researched” and opines that Taubes’s conclusions are “somewhat startling yet surprisingly convincing.” Journalism professor and food author Michael Pollan
describes Good Calories, Bad Calories as “valuable” but believes that it “does not escape the confines of nutritionism
.”
New York Times medical reporter Gina Kolata
concluded that she was ultimately “not convinced” by Taubes’s arguments, writing that “the problem with a book like this one, which goes on and on in great detail about experiments new and old […] is that it can be hard to know what has been left out.”
Laura Vanderkam reviewed the book somewhat negatively in The American, the journal of the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute
. Vanderkam believes that the biggest problem with the book is that Taubes “fashions himself a lonely dissident” when he, in fact, is hardly one, which ultimately results in the book being “unreadably weighty” at times.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
) is a 2007 book by science journalist Gary Taubes
Gary Taubes
Gary Taubes is an American science writer.He is the author of Nobel Dreams , Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion , and Good Calories, Bad Calories , titled The Diet Delusion in the UK and Australia. His book Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It was released in December...
. Taubes argues that the last few decades of dietary advice promoting low-fat diets
Low-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...
has been consistently incorrect. Taubes contends that carbohydrates
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
, specifically refined carbohydrates like white flour, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, and starches, contribute to obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
, diabetes, heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
, and other ailments. Taubes posits a causal link between carbohydrates and cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, as well.
Synopsis
Taubes points to biological, epidemiological, and anthropological evidence to back up his assertions. The human body secretes insulinInsulin
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....
in response to the consumption of carbohydrates in order to regulate blood sugar
Blood sugar
The blood sugar concentration or blood glucose level is the amount of glucose present in the blood of a human or animal. Normally in mammals, the body maintains the blood glucose level at a reference range between about 3.6 and 5.8 mM , or 64.8 and 104.4 mg/dL...
. This process, in turn, drives the body to store fat
Adipose tissue
In histology, adipose tissue or body fat or fat depot or just fat is loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes. It is technically composed of roughly only 80% fat; fat in its solitary state exists in the liver and muscles. Adipose tissue is derived from lipoblasts...
.
Taubes elaborates by examining evidence of the effects of carbohydrates on tribes with a “traditional” diet high in meat or fat and low in carbohydrates. He finds that the introduction of refined carbohydrates in the diets in these cultures resulted in increased prominence of diseases of civilization like obesity and heart disease.
Reception
Reviews were mixed for Good Calories, Bad Calories. Physician Tony Miksanek, writing in the Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, calls the book “well-researched” and opines that Taubes’s conclusions are “somewhat startling yet surprisingly convincing.” Journalism professor and food author Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan
Michael Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. A 2006 New York Times book review describes him as a "liberal foodie intellectual."...
describes Good Calories, Bad Calories as “valuable” but believes that it “does not escape the confines of nutritionism
Nutritionism
Nutritionism is a paradigm that assumes that it is the scientifically identified nutrients in foods that determine the value of individual food stuffs in the diet. In other words, it is the idea that the nutritional value of a food is the sum of all its individual nutrients, vitamins, and other...
.”
New York Times medical reporter Gina Kolata
Gina Kolata
Gina Bari Kolata is a science journalist for The New York Times. Her sister was environmental activist Judi Bari, and her mother was mathematician Ruth Aaronson Bari....
concluded that she was ultimately “not convinced” by Taubes’s arguments, writing that “the problem with a book like this one, which goes on and on in great detail about experiments new and old […] is that it can be hard to know what has been left out.”
Laura Vanderkam reviewed the book somewhat negatively in The American, the journal of the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank founded in 1943. Its stated mission is "to defend the principles and improve the institutions of American freedom and democratic capitalism—limited government, private enterprise, individual liberty and...
. Vanderkam believes that the biggest problem with the book is that Taubes “fashions himself a lonely dissident” when he, in fact, is hardly one, which ultimately results in the book being “unreadably weighty” at times.