Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It

An eye-opening, myth-shattering examination of what makes us fat, from acclaimed science writer Gary Taubes.

In his New York Times best seller, Good Calories, Bad Calories, Taubes argued that our diet’s overemphasis on certain kinds of carbohydrates—not fats and not simply excess calories—has led directly to the obesity epidemic we face today. The result of thorough research, keen insight, and unassailable common sense, Good Calories, Bad Calories immediately stirred controversy and acclaim among academics, journalists, and writers alike. Michael Pollan heralded it as “a vitally important book, destined to change the way we think about food.”

Building upon this critical work in Good Calories, Bad Calories and presenting fresh evidence for his claim, Taubes now revisits the urgent question of what’s making us fat—and how we can change—in this exciting new book. Persuasive, straightforward, and practical, Why We Get Fat makes Taubes’s crucial argument newly accessible to a wider audience.

Taubes reveals the bad nutritional science of the last century, none more damaging or misguided 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 the most persistent questions: Why are some people thin and others fat? What roles do exercise and genetics play in our weight? What foods should we eat, and what foods should we avoid?

Packed with essential information and concluding with an easy-to-follow diet, Why We Get Fat is an invaluable key in our understanding of an international epidemic and a guide to what each of us can do about it.

From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Award-winning science journalist Taubes, author of the best-selling Good Calories, Bad Calories, once again challenges the conventional belief that weight gain is caused by overeating and a sedentary lifestyle. To disprove the idea that taking in more calories than one expends leads to weight gain, he scrupulously evaluates human metabolism and analyzes nutrition research dating back to the 19th century. Taubes is especially interested in separating the "ethical, moral, and sociological considerations" of why we get fat from the science of it. He shows how false conclusions have been drawn about the causes of obesity and related maladies as a result of poor science and biased research, and he carefully details why increased consumption of refined carbohydrates, not fats, is to blame. Readers also get a succinct explanation of the theories discussed in Taubes's previous book. VERDICT An enlightening treatise that is meticulously researched yet approachable by all, this will captivate anyone interested in the science of diet and disease. A good choice for the general public. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/10.]—Erin Silva Fisher, Univ. of Nevada, Reno

About The Author:

Gary Taubes is a contributing correspondent for Science magazine, and his writing has also appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and Esquire. His work has been included in The Best of the Best American Science Writing (2010), and has received three Science in Society Journalism Awards from the National Association of Science Writers, the only print journalist so recognized. He is currently a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator in Health Policy Research at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health. He lives in Berkeley.

From the Hardcover edition.