Comments on: Gary Taubes Berkeley lecture

By: mreades

mreades — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:26:27 +0000

Most of the time I hang out with Gary is in coffee shops. And most of the time he drinks decaf espresso.

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:58:13 +0000

What does Gary typically drink?
I love my coffee but just came across info on caffeine increasing glucose.
http://www.ehow.com/list_6110206_effects-coffee-blood-glucose.html

Could ypu ask Gary what he thinks about this?

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 16 May 2011 00:43:29 +0000

Maggie,

Your best bet is to get a copy of the New Atkins Diet and follow it.
Most people who have been insulin resistant for a long time need to cut way back on carbs at first, then add them back in to see what they can tolerate. Most people find that you can’t “counteract” the effect of whole grains by adding more fat and protein; the combination of high fat and high carb is disasterous. But read the book.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Sun, 15 May 2011 16:46:18 +0000

I’ve been overweight for most of my life and have spent a lot of time feeling guilty and weak etc. I really appreciate that Taubes doesn’t approach fat people that way. It’s refreshing. I realize I could eat better, but truthfully, observationally, I’m not eating differently enough from my skinny friends to deserve to be 100lbs heavier than them.

I’ve recently been following a Michael Pollanesque diet (food, not too much, mostly plants) and have lost about 20 lbs although I”m having trouble getting it lower. I also went through a period of extreme stress (qualifying exams for a phd) and lost another 5lbs, but I’ve gained about 10 lbs back since them (sigh). At the moment I’m living kind of a flexitarian life style in which I eat meat a couple times a week.. I do eat plenty of fats– olive oil, butter, 2% milk (all “traditional” foods) and I get protein often from plant sources.

Ok, so I haven’t asked a question yet but I have one. What is the role of these plant based foods in a diet like the one you and Taubes would advocate? Do I have it right to think that non-starchy vegetables are perfectly fine (asparagus, tomatoes, zucchini etc.) but not potatoes and the like? What is the role of beans or lentils or other legumes or are they out? And if one wants to have whole grains like rice or millet, etc. can you counteract their effects by having fat and protein available?

By: Patricia Argueza

Patricia Argueza — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:39:47 +0000

Taubes�s mention of General Mill�s donations to Harvard opened my eyes to the huge influence corporations can have on top research institutions. This is an unavoidable consequence of the fact that scientific endeavors require huge amounts of time and money. I am also surprised about the scientific validity of the Atkins diet and the examples Taubes used to counter popular conceptions of obesity e.g. the Fat Louisa paradox and early twentieth century research on adiposity. It surprises me that these voices were overlooked and/or silenced and makes me question the true interests of the people who recommend health guidelines for this country. It also goes to show that the general public should take more responsibility to educate themselves about the science behind fad diets and popular ideas about health.

By: mreades

mreades — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:05:21 +0000

Enter ‘taubes’ and ‘asian’ into the search function of this blog. A couple of years ago I devoted a post to Gary answering questions that my readers submitted. That was one of the questions. You can read his answer.

By: Pete Fern

Pete Fern — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:36:33 +0000

What about Asian diets which consist of lots of rice or noodles and a little protein. Asians do not seem to be obese.

Thank you for your comments.

By: David H

David H — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:22:00 +0000

I am a Gout sufferer , What can i do to help myself? Regards David H You can follow a low-carb diet for long-term relief. You may need medication for the short term, however. You might be interested in this post on gout.

By: Frank

Frank — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:28:56 +0000

This is an old post but i’m really hoping to get an answer. First off I wanna thanks Gary and you doc for your great work. You both have helped me open my eyes on many many very important things. But being a skeptic, and keeping reading eveyrthing I could on that subject, I came by a bunch of study that I’m sure you are aware of doc that constantly come to the same conclusion: low-carb diet doesnt make ppl loose weight any better than low-fat. There was at least 10 very good studies out there as the writting of GCBC with that conclusion. I’m just wondering how Gary could come to this conclusion and close his eyes on these studies. I’ll also appreciate to have your thoughts on these studies too, doc. I’d like to point them out but right now i’m not home and don’t remember their title by heart, but i’m sure anyway that you know which one i’m talking about.

It’s obvious that low-carb diet are much more healthier, no doubt on this. But they don’t seem to offer any advantage as far as weight loss is concern. If anything, simply get more calories from protein will help, but it doesnt seem to be the carbs reduction per se that does the magic. Ultimatly, it’s calorie in calorie out.

Also, i’m wondering why Gary never talked about acylation stimulating protein, which has a much profond effect on fat storage than insulin can have. I’d also be interess to have your thoughts on this hormone too, doc.

Really hoping to get your thoughts on that!

By: Alan

Alan — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:39:17 +0000

Gary, i have to thank you for your work. If it wasn’t for you and your article ‘What If Its Big One Big Fat lie?’ I would never have been interested in seeing your online lecture that you did in the UK. And this clearly made me see why i lost so much weight on a LowCarb diet and why i put it on so quickly when i started missing my bread!
Removal of carbs has changed my life (I still have days when i eat more though) – but i’ve changed so much in shape that friends who hadn’t seen me for a while didn’t recognize me – even my own sister didn’t and i was sitting next to our mum. Where’s Alan? He’s here!
I can now buy clothes from the high st. and don’t have to worry about only buying from the big mans shop – where they are so expensive.
What is it going to take for the medical establishment to except (even if they don’t admit it was their fault) that carbs are the cause. The science is there to back it there was none for the fat = fat theory and as Walter Willet says ‘the low Kcal/Low Fat hypothesis has effectively failed the test of time’ – and of public money as well; the studies have shown it just doesn’t work in comparison to a low carb diet.
What do you think is going to be needed to prove that low-Carb is better than Low Kcal/Low Fat – they say it has to be overwhelming evidence but they never had any to begin with did they ? – It was just politics (good that its now come back to hit them in the face).