He was applying the first law of Thermodynamics to the human body.

This makes sense, because back in 1900something a German dude by the name of Carl von Noorden proclaimed that we get fat because we take in more calories than we expend (1). If calories-in out number calories-out, we get fatter. The book doesn’t cover the whole picture, but it covers a prominent part, and it dispels the oversimplified and nonsensical “calories in, calories out” hypothesis.Most people will say we get fat because we eat too much and exercise too little. There are a lot of reasons why people get fat.

If you’re interested you should read the book too – there’s a lot more to it. Stephen also posted an excellent article about the carbohydrate hypothesis.

Artificially enhanced flavors may play a role too. In a nutshell, the food reward hypothesis suggests that constantly eating foods which lead to massive dopamine release (sugar is a prominent example) can cause people to overeat and gain weight. Why We Get Fat doesn’t touch on the reward aspect of food and how it relates to fatness. Stephan Guyenet offers a rebuttal to Gary Taubes’ book in a thoughtful aritcle about the food reward hypothesis of obesity. There are also pieces to the puzzle we have yet to discover that’s why the Bulletproof Diet methodology is to keep evaluating new research in order to update the infographics as new research becomes available. Some of my other favorite theories are leptin resistance, mitochondrial dysfunction, and xenoestrogen exposure from environmental toxins and mold toxins. It also addresses fructose, the obesity-promoting sugar found in fruit, agave nectar, and a number of other supposedly “healthy” foods.įor most people, getting fat comes down to more than just insulin. Why We Get Fat focuses on insulin’s role in obesity, discussing the damaging effects of excess carb intake. You will walk away knowing what the science said vs what the media said, and you will be angry. If you still believe the calorie myth, read that book. It takes a master to pack as much information into 500 pages as Gary did, without making it into a boring list of references.

And in all honesty, Good Calories, Bad Calories is one of the best nutrition and science books I’ve ever read, not just for the content, but for the way he never wasted even one sentence. He spoke to a packed house at, the non-profit I run. He introduced me to his publishing agent, who became my publishing agent. It does a really good job of summarizing Gary Taubes’ theories as explained in his opus, Good Calories, Bad Calories, and later in his simplified Why We Get Fat. There are some awesome infographics about nutrition coming out now.

Taubes why we get fat