Image of the cover of the book, by Gary Taubes

Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes
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Gary Taubes saved my life. Or at least, that’s what I tell him.

This book came at a critical point in my life, and reversed an insidious trend of out of control weight gain and mounting health problems.

Written for the lay person, it gives a history of nutrition and obesity, and proposes a new theory as to why modern Americans are predisposed to obesity…except, it’s not a new theory at all: up until World War II, we pretty much knew that sugar and other carbohydrates drove obesity. After World War II, politics forced a rewrite of our understanding of obesity (based on dubious work by Ancel Keys), and we convinced ourselves that fat drove obesity and disease.

This is a must-have read for anyone who is over weight or interested in obesity or nutrition. While the clinical tests have not been performed that will prove his Insulin Hypothesis, after reading this book it’s unlikely that you’ll ever be able to think the same way about the foods you eat and nutrition advice you receive through familiar channels.