Why we get fat and what to do about it Cover Image

Book

Why we get fat and what to do about it / Gary Taubes.

Summary:

An eye-opening, paradigm-shattering examination of what makes us fat.In the New York Times best seller Good Calories, Bad Calories, acclaimed science writer Gary Taubes argues that certain kinds of carbohydrates—not fats and not simply excess calories—have led to our current obesity epidemic. Now he brings that message to a wider, nonscientific audience in this exciting new book. Persuasively argued, straightforward, practical, and with fresh evidence for Taubes’s claim, Why We Get Fat makes his critical argument newly accessible.Taubes reveals the bad nutritional science of the last century—none more damaging than the “calories-in, calories-out” model of why we get fat—and the good science that has been ignored, especially regarding insulin’s regulation of our fat tissue. He also answers key questions: Why are some people thin and others fat? What roles do exercise and genetics play in our weight? What foods should we eat or avoid? -- provided by author's website.

Record details

ISBN: 9780307272706
ISBN: 0307272702
Physical Description: xii, 257 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 229-246) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

The original sin -- Biology, not Physics -- Why were they fat? -- The elusive benefits of undereating -- The elusive benefits of exercise -- The significance of twenty calories a day -- Why me? Why there? Why then? -- Thermodynamics for dummies, part 1 -- Thermodynamics for dummies, part 2 -- Head cases -- Adiposity 101 -- The laws of adiposity -- A historical digression on "lipophilia" -- A primer on the regulation of fat -- Why I get fat and you don't (or vice versa) -- What we can do -- Injustice collecting -- Why diets succeed and fail -- A historical digression on the fattening carbohydrate -- Meat or plants? -- The nature of a healthy diet -- Following through.