I've recently started eating in an 'Atkins' type style, or probably more appropriately I'm working on adopting a low carb (LC for the cool kids) lifestyle. It's really due to this guy. Gary Taubes is a remarkable guy-applied physics scholar at Harvard and Stanford, trained as a journalist at Columbia and currently a straight up Bad Ass Iconoclast.
Taubes' has authored numerous books and articles that you can find referenced on his blog, however, what made me a proponent of his work was his NY Times article "What if it's all been a big fat lie", and, "Why we get fat and what we can do about it" his most recent book. In these pieces Taubes discusses the science behind obesity and weight gain. What, as you read, is very clear is that the common wisdom that we've been force fed (pardon the pun) for the past 40 some years regarding fat, carbohydrates and a healthy diet is, in a nutshell, absolutely wrong. There is, in fact, no clear evidence that exercise is necessary for weight loss. There is also, in fact, no clear evidence that a low fat diet helps one lose weight, or reduces one's risk of heart disease. In fact, following a low fat diet might just make these things quite a bit worse.
Holy Moley Batman! I can hear the Dr.'s, trainers, dietitians and other casual observers now. "This is Heresy!" Well, perhaps, but our recent history of accumulated experience and the scientific data would suggest that it's not. If you're intrigued at all read and see where we got our 'food pyramid', get an understanding of the political birthing of the value of a low fat diet, see how the impact of insulin as a major component in weight loss is routinely dismissed in favor of a wrong headed focus on will power and sloth.
Amazing, Amazing stuff. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Dr. Atkins, Gary Taubes and others who bravely wave the torch of science as they attempt to illuminate thorny truths. These men are continuing a tradition of Big Thinking that is slowly being strangled by too much data (thoughts for another post). They would probably be the first to say they don't have all the answers, by the same token, however, they'd probably also be the first to speak up and say the Emperor has no clothes.
So, this discussion reminds me of one of my favorite quotes. It's attributed to the giant in Physics, Max Planck:
A scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.
Hopefully, now, we've grown to the point that we can discard old notions without waiting for their proponents to die.
