We’ve all heard the fiendishly simple and completely untrue colloquialism about how to lose weight: Just eat less and exercise more. The idea that all calories are created equal has been one of the most pervasive and damaging food lies in history. Not only is it completely unsupported by science, it develops a blame-the-victim mentality that tells people who are struggling with their weight that it is just a matter of willpower. In this mini-episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, Dr. Hyman talks with Gary Taubes about this topic and the history behind how science got it so wrong.
Gary Taubes is co-founder and President of the non-profit Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI). He’s an investigative science and health journalist, the author of The Case Against Sugar, Why We Get Fat and Good Calories, Bad Calories. Gary is a former staff writer for Discover and correspondent for the journal Science. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, and Esquire, and has been included in numerous “Best of” anthologies, including The Best of the Best American Science Writing.
Find Dr. Hyman’s full length conversation with Gary Taubes:
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Dr. Hyman is an 11-time New York Times bestselling author, family physician and international leader in the field of Functional Medicine. His podcast, The Doctor's Farmacy, is a place for deep conversations about the critical issues of our time in the space of health, wellness, food and politics. New episodes are released every Wednesday here on YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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I could Not get my sugar down, UNTIL I took all OIL and FAT OUT of my Diet. NOW I Eat Fruit and Grains and Potatoes and My Sugar is Better than It has been in 10 YEARS. AND lost 12 lbs with out tryng~!
Low carb works for a lot of people, but it’s not for everyone. Good on you for figuring out what works for you. Biochemical Individuality.
@rachelmaechel It was a Difficult Road, I tried Low Carb, Keto, No Meat, Eating ONLY salad….Nothing Helped UNTIL No Oil No Fat~!!! I found it thru Mastering Diabetes Channel~!
If I don’t eat fruit and sweet potatoes I feel sluggish
blood sugars are out of whack man… i was the same until i increased my fat intake mid protein low carb diet… helped me a lot.. i dont know what your current health situation is so dont try it until you speak with your practitioner. do your research!
I have no problem metabolizing fructose if I eat it after I lift weights.
Wow, Gary is looking good … His facial features, he looks like he’s ageing in reverse. I want some of what he’s having.
People who say that weight loss is about calories in calories out are merely describing the energy balance that allows someone to lose, maintain, or gain weight. This is like saying that this car can’t move because its gas tank is empty. That is simply stating the obvious. The deeper question is WHY is the gas tank empty? In the case of weight loss, WHY do some people have a hard time controlling for calories, while others don’t? This is where the hormonal effect of food within the context of insulin resistance, as Gary Taubes has elucidated for more than a decade, is illuminating. Of course calories matter. However, when you focus on why the weight gain inducing calorie surplus happens in certain people, and you leave out the assumptions about character, you realize that macro-nutrient composition matters. With the proper macro-nutrient composition, where high carbohydrate items devoid of much fiber are kept low, and where protein and fat are raised to ones satiety point, calories can be controlled without the herculean effort that causes most people to fail consciously calorie restricted diets.
It is this method that allowed me to lose 110 lbs (50 kg), and obtain a waist line below 30″ (76 cm), and sustain this way of eating for 4 years. I am now leaner as 42 year old man, working a sedentary white collar job, than when I was an active and athletic teenager. I am indebted to Taubes for showing me how efficacious this way of eating is, and proving how abysmally poor much of the so called “science” was that attempted to discredit low carb/high fat diets as dangerous or ineffective. Without Taubes removing these misgivings, nurtured by bad science and an industry driven agenda, I would never have embarked on this life changing way of eating. Thank you Mr. Taubes for the work you are doing.
Both Taubes and Dr. Hyman missed an important point. Obesity is caused by the combination of Carb and Fat eaten together… Not just carb alone…. Both carb and fat eaten together causes a competition triggering insulin resistance…. So the sugar and oil in donuts causes insulin resistance…the oil and sugar in an energy bar….in salad dressings….in some chocolates….in breads…….etc…etc….
I believe Dr. Mark addressed that in a Cleveland Clinic video last year.
@Tiffany Marie LMT he didn’t address it here…. What he did last year doesn’t help this latest conversation if he doesn’t bring it forward to today….. The combination of fat/sugar causing insulin resistance has been known since the early 1960s Taubes has never mentioned in any of his writings that I’m aware….. I’m 59 years old and my generation and the earlier generation have suffered from the lack of this knowledge…. Taubes must address this and Mark Hyman must relentlessly address otherwise they appear to be shilling for one industry or the other….. The millennials must be made aware of the sugar/fat combo problem…. This was a great opportunity to do that…an opportunity that was missed.
@Dan Perlman there is so much information that can be addressed, it may be difficult to cover absolutely everything in short amounts of time.
@Tiffany Marie LMT @7:50 Hyman asks “How do you do that?” (How do you drop insulin)He knows the answer but doesn’t share it……….an opportunity lost…..just perpetuates the problem…..
Ah Yeah, so go ahead and take out that worthless Kaya Purohit Commercial – How fricken stupid is that. Oh, otherwise nice video clip. Definitely don’t need the dumbed down outline at the end, makes the video less than it would be without.
That is actually needed for most people believe it or not. I work with people daily that need it spelled out for them.
I wish the Health Company I work for would address this topic as bluntly described in this video. But, sadly, the issue is skirted around and comes down to calories in vs calories out.
I enjoy the content on this podcast. This, for example, is a superb guest! However, one criticism–and this is being expressed with a kind spirit–I would enjoy these interviews more if the interviewer would not interrupt the guest but would wait to comment; it is disconcerting. Thanks so much.
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