I frequently get into heated debates, often with physicians, and very few of them understand the biochemistry of fat metabolism. After reading Gary’s book, I feel more empowered than ever. He did a tremendous job of criticizing the conventional wisdom (or lack thereof) about diet and nutrition.

I teach high school biology, and I’ve been incorporating the concepts of low carb dieting to my students. I am frequently criticized by my colleagues, particulary the physical education department and nursing staff, for teaching something so “controversial.” When I explain the concepts to them, the faces looking back at me say “I think I understand what you’re trying to say, but I don’t believe you.” Fortunately, my students are better learners than the adult community. My next attempt to “spread the word” will be to establish a “wellness link” on my school’s website, where I will give free advice for anyone who wants it. I am not trying to promote anything except good health.

Thanks again, Dr. Eades!

Hey Mike–

Good for you! Keep fighting the good fight. It constantly amazes me how much nutritional ignorance abounds – even in places where it shouldn’t. We’ve got to keep getting the message out.

Best–

MRE

Good luck with the surgery. And thanks for the kind words. You’re the one who really did all the hard work.

MRE

I’m fascinated by this book. It’s taken me literally MONTHS to read because I don’t have a scientific mind and I didn’t want to just breeze past the studies…but I am finally finished with it and FINALLY feel vindicated. I’m now retraining myself NOT to think of myself as lacking character because I was nearly 300 lbs at one time.

I know that the only thing that saved me was changing my eating habits to low-carb (Thanks to the Eades…it was their Protein Power book that got me started in 1999 and even with ups and downs over the years I’m nearly where I want to be!) It hasn’t helped to have a sister who has rarely topped 100 lbs in her life…especially with her comments like “Why can’t you just eat everything in moderation???” “Just have a little of everything” all while she served me rice centered meals (her husband is Iranian and well, rice is definitely one of their mainstays). It didn’t matter that I tried to explain over and over and over again that if I have a little, I’ll be eating, or ather gorging, myself on sugary, carb-laden food for weeks afterwards, as I struggle to once again work them out of my diet. It was good to know that it is a physiological problem not psychological, or at least not MORAL!

I want to thank Gary for the work he put into this book and the Eades, who set me on this path to a thinner, healthier me! (The healthier is documented in low cholesterol, low blood pressure, low-normal blood sugar levels.)

Thank you!

Hi Keren–

MRE

As Taubes would say, a true scientist is one who can admit mistakes and look objectively at the data.

Best luck in your business venture.

Hey Joe–

MRE

Hi Richard–

MRE

Thanks for the elaboration and I would suggest we still agree but that I failed to fully articulate some important distinctions.

First of all, you are correct that heat is another pathway through which consumed energy can leave the body. Consumed calories can leave the body as matter containing thermodynamic content or as heat and few other nits and nats. The point remains that the proponents of a calorie is a calorie make the assumption that the thermodynamic content of all food that enters the body does one of two things – support work done by the body with very little wasted efficiency or store it as fat. That is not the case. How the body handle sthe thermodynamic potential of the foods consumed by the body is much more complicated than that and is dramatically effected and mediated by insulin, particulary with respect to lipogenesis.

With respect to genetic diversity, I agree with your comment that we have the same basic mechanisms for metabolism, but please allow me an example to illustrate my point. Some of the biggest skeptics of low carb regimes (other than the entrenched nutritional/medical establishment) are people who for some reason can consume rather copious calories with high carb content and not have any trouble remaining trim. I call these people metabolically gifted. My wife is one of those (and I know many others). She is 5′-7″ and 110 pounds. She consumes probably 2200-2800 calories per day consisting of about 60% carbs. She eats bagels and cereal for breakfast, sandwiches or buttered baguettes for lunch and meat and mashed or baked potatoes or white rice for dinner all the time, snacks on crackers all day long, eats lots of chocolate and frequently has desserts – ice cream, cake and the like. She never gains weight and has a reasonable lipid profile. I on the other hand must keep my carb consumption down around 25-60 grams per day consistently or I will gain weight and stabilize at around 25 pounds of additional body fat. If I maintain the carb restriction, I can consume 2500, 3000, 3500 calories a day, it doesn’t matter and stay trim and feel good. If the carb content goes up to 100 g/day I will gain weight consistently up to the 25 pounds even at 2000 cal or less per day. Therefore, there must be some genetic difference in the way our bodies respond to carbs – either I produce more insulin or I am more susceptible to developing insulin resistance or something. That is why I say there are genetic variations in the degree of impact carbs have on obesity from one person to the next. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other aspects outside of obesity where the carbs are negative for those less likely to become obese in response to carbs. But as to the obesity question, I think there is a genetic continuum as to the sensitivity to carb intake and lipogenesis because I obsserve in people the ability to eat in way I can’t without gaining weight. You have helped many people, including me. Protein Power was my introduction to LC and it has been a godsend. I know it’s right for me and metabolically and scientifcially sound and I no longer feel compelled to defend it or even discuss with skeptics or conventional nutritional wisdom nazis or the “metabolically gifted.”

Thank you

Thank you,
Marc

The way you wrote it this time I agree with completely.

Best–
MRE (for Michael R. Eades. That’s Mike, not Mary)

I do think Taubes misses some important points that would be useful in furthering his premise.

First of all, one of the main flaws in nutritional advice (I will not call it science) is that it is all geared toward a one size fits all approach. Humans are genetically very diverse in so many dimensions yet nutritionists nearly universally offer advice as if we were all metabolically identical; we’re not, any more than we all have the same shoe size or eye color or whatever. Taubes misses this point in saying that restricting carbs is probably good for everyone. I suspect there are some people for whom restricting or not restricting carbs is relatively neutral and people for whom it is immensely beneficial with people all along the spectrum. There may even be certain people for who restricting carbs is detrimental.

I would like to assert some intuitive facts that may or may not be proven by the current research that has occurred but am willing to bet money with any taker on their correctness.

1) There are many millions if not billions of people whose metabolisms function in such a manner that a true persistence of restricting carbs (a la Atkins or Eades) will make them leaner and healthier in many important dimensions.

2) That this phenomenon is correctly identified as an insulin mediated response.

3) A calorie is a calorie is a calorie is a true statement – but irrelevant to human metabolism. This statement is true of a perfect thermodynamic processor – something that humans are not. There is no question that those people who fall into the category described in point 1 above can eat more calories while remaining leaner by restricting carbs. Likely, category 1 people will be fatter on a lower calorie diet that is 70% carbohydrate than a higher calorie diet that is 5% carb. This will not be true for people whose genetically different metabolisms are far from the category 1 type.

In the absence of insulin, the body clearly does not “process” as many of the calories that are available to it through what is consumed. In this case “process” can only mean use directly and immediately for energy or store as fat. Also, never mentioned is the fact that the body’s excretions have thermodynamic content. Animal exretions are good fertilizers precisely because they contains energy that can be used by plants and other organisms. The body exretes what it doesn’t convert to energy or store as fat. This is the reason that – for the human body – a calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie.

If someone wanted to make a true statement based on physics it could be this: Body weight is perfectly correlated to the mass of what’s consumed minus the mass of what is excreted (in the various forms – solids, liquids and gases). I don’t think this needs elaboration. It’s obvious and is so axiomatic that it doesn’t need proof. The concept that the body is a perfect thermodynamic processor cannot be proven.

It is funny and illuminating at this point to see how typical, nay rampant, for people to opine vigorously with severely limited knowledge or none at all. On the other hand, it is kind of scary.

Hi Marc–

MRE

It is very doubtful.

MRE

Have read Taubes book (already knew most of it after 3 years of LC-eating – strange that you have to become a semiscientist to be allowed to eat naturally?) and really enjoyed it!

Agree with LCforevah: I am a carnivore!