rationalskepticism.org

Is it time to de-bunk the "calories in/calories out" theory in nutrition science?

Gary Taubes, author of "Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion" thinks so.

He hired a team of researchers and wrote "Good Calories, Bad Calories" in 2007, and followed up with "Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It" last December.

If I get this right, he is saying that authorities on diet and nutrition that write advice for the public are wrong as far as treating calorie intake and calorie burn as a simple equation. His books go into a lot of detail about how the current trends in diabetes and obesity are attributed to "low fat" advice, and what he considers a false claim: "calories in=calories out."

Here are some links in case someone is interested enough to give this one a shot:

Taubes takes dead aim at the calories-in / calories-out hypothesis. This is the hypothesis that obesity is *caused* by over-eating or under-exercising (a caloric surplus). It seems true on the face of it -- the only way you can become heavier and fatter is to take in more calories than you expend. This hypothesis has dominated the last fifty years of mainstream health advice from doctors, government officials, and many health gurus. It underpins our nation's low fat hysteria (fat has more calories per gram than carbohydrate, therefore fat is evil!), our exercise madness (go burn those calories!), and contributes to the notion that fat causes heart disease (if obesity increases the risk of heart disease, and if fat leads to obesity, then Honey Nut Cheerios must be heart healthy!). But what if the calories-in / calories-out hypothesis is wrong?

http://www.hunter-gatherer.com/blog/buy ... ary-taubes
(This one is a book review of "Why We Get Fat.")

Everything that we believe about obesity basically came out of the 1970's. This was a period in which a half a dozen men completely dominated the field. So they controlled what everybody was allowed to think.

They wrote all the textbooks. Every textbook on obesity that isn't about behavioral therapy was written by one of these six men.
-Gary Taubes

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_art ... ing_leaner
(This one is an older review of "Good Calories, Bad Calories")

This stuff is making the rounds on websites, and there is a lot of disagreement.

The calories in/calories out theory (at least as I understand it) is that weight can be reduced to a simple equation. A pound of fat equals X amount of calories, and to reduce one’s weight one pound, you simply do a specific amount of work (in calories) corresponding to that pound and the pound is gone.

If you want to lose another pound, just do it again. Keep going until you reach your goal. Easy.

If the body really works this way, there should be no disagreement. If there is something specific wrong with what Taubes is saying (calories in/calories out is a myth), it should be simple, and everyone on each of the sites that say he is wrong would be saying the same things. Also, we would not know anyone who tried to “work it off” and watch it come right back on.

http://dietforhumans.com/2011/03/06/a-p ... ories-out/