Gary Taubes

Did his own institute disprove his nutrition theory?

I’d like to see details on the study. This article focuses on weight loss, and ignores other health benefits of not eating crap. I’ve certainly not been doing it for weight loss, but rather to reduce my serum cholesterol and triglycerides, and improve my A1C. Also, if you’re converting fat to muscle, you’re not losing weight, but you’re getting a lot healthier.

8 thoughts on “Gary Taubes”

  1. Speaking only for myself, these kind of diets seemed to work for me at first, but I never ever lost more than ten pounds and then hung there. Eventually I’d drift off the diet and gain it all back. It’s happened several times.

  2. That hack got a quote from one opponent of the person he is writing about and declared the case closed. Which he can do because journalism is not a profession and has no standards.

    1. @FC;
      Sir, I object to the claim that journalism has no standards.

      Double standards are, most clearly, standards, and that, and that alone, they have in more than ample quantity.

  3. We went low carb 7 years ago. I went from 77Kg to 68 and my wife from 54 to 49. Still there and no heartburn, bloating etc etc. Higher HDL, lower trigs.

    As for the hit piece, they aren’t called “presstitutes” for nothing.

  4. Modern journalism in general suffers from this sort of structural bias. Call it the “one-expert” syndrome.

    Say there is an interesting and newsworthy dispute about, well, anything. Polar bears, for example. People study bears, and the habitats of bears, and the climates of the habitats of bears, and the hydro-chemistry or solar-physics of the part of the planet affecting the climates of the habitats of bears …

    One expert in one component of that complex and disputed topic has just released a study, or written a popular book, or been endowed with a “name” chair at a “prestige” university, or some other event worth taking the spotlight, on-stage, for a moment. And the one expert uses the platform to declare “the polar bears are [nearly extinct / unexpectedly thriving ]”

    Whatever the expert du jour might say, the talking head supposedly questioning that expert has, at the very best, no background to inform the interview beyond the study or book or press-release-about-the-appointment. “So, Dr Bear-Man, you’re predicting the polar bears will…” “Great question Terry, No, yes, that’s right, and to be clear my theory, which is mine, absolutely shows that, theoretically, in only two decades, or possibly less, the bears can’t avoid … ”

    Once in a very blue moon an interviewer (Matthew Sweet, for one example) happens to know a fact that the spotlighted expert (Naomi Wolf, in the example) does not. And so de-platforms the whole claim in a sudden, catastrophic, fashion.

    But in general a chosen expert (Andrew Derocher ?) is never going to questioned in the media by another subject matter expert (Susan Crockford?) Any presentation is literally one-sided. If an alternative interpretation ever takes the stage at all, it is so removed in time and venue as would leave no evidence that the general topic is experiencing any dispute, or even discussion, at all.

  5. I would note that his defense of the abysmal results of the conventional theory is to argue that it must be because “People don’t follow it.” Sure, and communism never got the right people in charge. Anyone who was attempting to do decent science would ask the question “What could make increasing numbers of people overeat. “

  6. Experts…
    Medical wisdom developed from Joe/Jill Average™ case studies may be even be “worse than useless” for your particular case.

    Caveat emptor.

  7. For what it’s worth (about what you pay for it), my experience has been that reducing carbs serves to significantly reduce calories. Bread, ice cream, cookies, etc. are all enjoyable, but they don’t satisfy my appetite so much as my sweet tooth. I end up eating a LOT more than if I stick to a more protein-centric menu. The latter helps me lose weight, especially when coupled with keeping my daily caloric intake below my Basal Metabolic Rate. And as long as I count the calories, I can have daily carbs without any downside. It’s when I fall off the wagon and indulge the sweet tooth that I backslide.

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