Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes

To summarize 217 pages of scientific research by Gary Taubes in "Why We Get Fat" into 3 words: EAT. LESS. CARBS.

I am fully convinced we would be would be much better off as a human race if we all followed that one simple rule that has governed and molded our race (and biology) for millions of years.

Reading this book makes you a bit upset about where we (as a media educated society) stand on the topic of diet and health. With government backed guidelines based on misinterpreted studies we lose sight of the simplest explanations and the desire for the scientific community to challenge the studies that have instilled out current interpretations of obesity, weight loss, and energy utilization. The topics go further to debunk the role of ingested fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol in the diet and how the bigger villains are carbs and NOT the ingested compounds themselves.

This really should be recommended reading for all current medical students and especially nutritionists as it's this community that is most guilty in perpetuating the "false" link to unhealthy lifestyles and body composition.
A few key points I picked up from this book:

* Studies over the last 100 years have show that carbs cause fat accumulation. This is caused by the effects on glucose in carbs causing an insulin spike and thus affecting fat receptors to "take in" energy.

* A rise in insulin causes fat not only to take in energy in the form of fat/glucose but affects hormone mechanisms that prevent the breakdown of fat when it's needed by the body as energy (think about what your body uses for energy when you're sleeping...that's right, FAT).

* Fat, Protein and Carbs all have caloric impact. Although Fat has 9cal/gram vs Protein and Carbs 4cal/g the fat. The main difference is that Fat and Protein have minimal insulin responses so it doesn't cause the hormone pathway (and resulting energy utilization) breakdown caused when carbs are present in the diet. This allows for better utilization of fat as an energy source and also allows fat to be stored and released easily when called upon to make up for energy deficits. This is a key point. In a person who does not have optimal fat metabolism when the body (the aggregate composition of individual cells) senses lack of stored energy/nutrients it asks for help from fat. If your fat calls cannot breakdown to share the energy stores (due to their hormonal malfunction due to the insulin promoted issues) then the cells send a response to the brain for HUNGER. This is the main issue with Carb diets. It causes the breakdown in energy utilization (doesntt let fat breakdown) and causes overeating. So even though carbs have less calories per gram they cause overeating and a whole slew of other issues by having elevated glucose running through the system. One last note on Fat, Protein and Carbs...fat and protein have a MUCH higher impact at satiating appetite than carbs so you'll feel fuller faster and LONGER eating those foods than high Carb diets.

* LDL Cholesterol is not a good indicator of heart disease risk. In many cases HDL is a better indicator. If looking at LDL it is more important to consider the small-dense version (which is correlated to poor health) instead of the total LDL (there is also a puffy LDL molecule that is rolled up into total LDL measurements that has no correlation with heart disease risk).

* Triglycerides are a better indicator for heart disease risk. What causes spikes in triglycerides? Carbs.

* A 2007 study (lasted one year) compared Atkins, Traditional, Ornish, and Zone diets. Atkins came out on top in all major measures aside from LDL which it was inconclusive if the LDL gained was the good puffy form. Subjects on Atkins lost the most weight, dropped the highest percentage of triglycerides and blood pressure and gained the most HDL.

I could really go on about how much this book uncovers but urge you to read the insights yourself as I'm sure you'll come to understand the frustrations I have in our modern diets.

All I can say is, if you want to lose fat and live a healthy life then read this book and EAT. LESS. CARBS.