Gary Taubes Diet Delusion

Author Gary Taubes has risen to 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 questioned the efficacy and health benefits of low-fat diets, was seen as defending the Atkins diet against the medical establishment and became extremely controversial (Taubes himself has stated “Even 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 their November, 2002, newsletter. According to Taubes, “The 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 aims to examine how a hypothesis became dogma and claims 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 1800s.

Gary Taubes has been mentioned in numerous CrossFit articles. The diets followed by many Crossfitters e.g. Zone Diet, Paleo Diet, etc are suppported by much of the information that Taubes reveals.
Taubes’ hypothesis is that the medical community and the federal government 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.

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.

Although Taubes has no formal training in nutrition or medicine, his book was praised as “raising interesting and valuable points” by Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Mehmet Oz who both appeared on the same program.

 

 
Diet Delusion is a fascintating book which should be read by anyone who cares about the type of food they put in their mouth.

Check out his lecture by Gary Taubes video below (approx 1hr 12 mins – but worth watching).