Discussion Board

Gary Taubes who re-ignited the debate about carbs several years ago and literally put the Atkins Diet back on the map with his New York Times article, "What If It's All Been a Big Fat Lie," is at it again with a new article Newsweek. As usual he villifies grains and other carbohydrates and lets fat off the hook. I used to buy in to all his stuff and I suffered from it. I not only could not lose weight on a low carb diet, but I almost landed in the hospital with colon blockage (I will spare you the ugly details). Excuse me, but Mr. Taubes is literally blowing smoke you know where!

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2 ... iling.html

This couldn't have come at a worse time. I wouldn't put it past Taubes to have timed the article to come out at the same time Dr. McDougall's new book The Starch Solution was published. He has been debating with plant-based doctors for years.

wow.
The following he has created is scary. For a guy that's supposed to be a research journalist, I don't know how he has come up with his wacky theories on obesity. I think an 8th grader doing a report on obesity could come up with better conclusions that Gary Taubes.

Multi millions of lean asians defy his outrageous claims that starch makes one fat.

Taubes has a degree is in aerospace engineering. My son also has an aerospace engineering degree and he didn't even take biology much less nutrition. Taubes should be fixing airplanes rather than trying to fix people.

The thing I hear right after "but where do you get your protein" is, "Potatoes?!? I thought they make you fat???"

We know the truth, but "we" are few. Seems like Taubes and his ilk will always get more press than actual purveyors of truth.

Evidently, Mr. Taubes did not read Atkins book, Dr. Atkins Nutrition Breakthrough, in which Atkins says that his diet of lots of meat and fat and some green vegetables, after a while, does not prevent the rise in blood sugars of diabetics. And so he adds grains to his diet.

And according to the PrimitiveNutrition guy, in one study of different diets funded by the Atkins people, those on the Atkins diet were asked to use VEGETABLE SOURCES OF FAT AND PROTEIN and their calories were restricted.

From the article cited, it seems that Taubes is setting up a diet of sugar and refined and processed food and calling this the low fat diet and comparing it to a diet with a few more whole foods.

He also quotes a representative of the agricultural trade industry. Who would be MY source for good information on nutrition.

And he mentions all those grains at the base of the food pyramid. As a matter of fact, in the seventies when a committee of experts got together to determine what the recommendation for a healthful diet should be, they put fruits and vegetables at the base of the pyramid, not grains. After it was submitted to whatever government group had the final say, they were shocked to see that grains replaced their fruit and vegetable recommendation. And not whole grains--oreo cookies could have been one of the foods at the bottom of the pyramid.

So Taubes is very good at setting up straw men and knocking them down.

Didi

What a bunch of rubbish. That Newsweek printed the Taubes opinion piece and passed it off as journalism makes them the poster child for everything that is wrong with the popular media.

An authentic article would have been written by a real journalist who would have researched the issue and included an interview with Dr. McDougall about the historical, scientific, medical and clinical evidence supporting starch centered diets that have been the mainstay of civilization.

Gary Taubes is a science research journalist, although IMO he does it with bias. He has also been known to misrepresent medical researchers by quoting them out of context.

I know this is anecdotal evidence, but I believe strongly that "fat makes you fat." In the late 90s, I went on a low fat diet; however, at the time I did not eat a vegetarian diet, but continued eating chicken, fish, beef, etc. I simply avoided bacon, egg yolks, and all added fats, including my beloved peanut butter. At 41 years old, 5'4" and between 190 and 200 pounds, the weight began to drop off very quickly. Within less than six months, I was down to about 135 pounds. I took a daily 30 minute walk, and once in awhile two walks, but that was my only excercise. I ate bread until it was practically coming out my ears. I ate pasta, potatoes, rice, anything starchy, but with no added fat. I ate sweets too ... at the time, SnackWells cookies were the big thing. I ate them two at a time, which was the serving size on the label. I also permitted myself fat free frozen yogurt every night after dinner. And still the weight came off. Eventually I got down to 128 pounds. Unfortunately, I fell off the wagon and began eating with abandon again and have not been able to replicate my success. With the new Starch Solution book, I am getting a new lease on things and hope to be as successful as I was all those years ago.

I've never understood why people like Taubes, Atkins and Mercola have such big followings. Is it really that hard to see through their pseudo scientific mumbo jumbo?

I think their allure lies in the fact that people want to continue eating their burgers, steaks, chicken, and pork loin. My sister believes they are health foods ... she is on the Dukan diet. She also believes that flour is a processed food, as is pasta.

Well Taubes had been given the presigious Science Writer of the Year award for his article on "Cold Fusion." Unfortunately that gave him the big head and made him think he was an authority on everything.

Here's another You Tube video by "generic-comment" who wrote the review of Andrew Weil that someone posted earlier in the week. He is quite good at debunking the low carb gurus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITwViBD0wmY