Gary Taubes, Men's Journal, and the Summer Arrives

So- the summer is here...more time and good weather for surfing and the beach. I swear every men's magazine has a beach body for summer workout. My favorite was in the new Men's Journal. It's sort of a do it yourself guide to toning up in 3 weeks. Some of it's advice includes ditching carbs, beer, sugar, and getting enough sleep.



Further, I was telling a vegan friend about Gary Taubes, author of Why We Get Fat. His book convinced me to try Paleo for 30 days with the Robb Wolf Quickstart sheet. Since then, almost two years ago, I still take cheats now and then, and have some dairy, but overall, feel pretty good, have super low cholesterol, and have lost 20-30lbs, going from a Large to Medium and 34 to almost 30 in waist sizes. For me, June will be about revisiting one of Owen McKibbin's workouts, reducing alcohol, and getting back into the gym. I think Joe is planning to revisit an Alwyn Cosgrove workout. Here's a summary of Taubes' views from a fat loss roundup in a recent Men's Journal.

http://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/health/what-makes-us-fat-its-the-sugar-stupid-20130529#ixzz2VBBuaD82

EXPERT ADVICE
What Makes Us Fat?

It's sugar, stupid.

Gary Taubes
Science journalist, author, and theory maverick

Background
Gary Taubes believed something was missing from the "calories in-calories out" theory in the 1990s, when the former Harvard defensive lineman was watching his diet, working out an hour a day, and still gaining weight. That's when he figured he'd try "this crazy Atkins thing," which melted the weight off and set him on a mission to figure out why. The yield to date: two rigorously argued books, 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' and 'Why We Get Fat,' which challenged the scientific orthodoxy of the obesity epidemic and caused many leading researchers to reconsider the evidence.

Theory
In Taubes' view, the rise in obesity comes from our dietary overload of carbs once the public-health establishment declared fat evil and grains good. It comes down to Adiposity 101: Eating too much sugar stimulates the hormone insulin, while fat and protein do not. Increased insulin triggers hunger and causes calories not immediately burned to be stored as fat. This theory was vindicated by a recent study that found that low-carb, low-sugar diets increase metabolism and weight loss more than low-fat diets with the same number of calories.

Solution
The journalist has joined forces with Dr. Peter Attia to launch the Nutrition Science Initiative nonprofit, which will do the research that Taubes hopes will prove the obesity epidemic comes down to a sugar-insulin cycle. "My dream is that you go to the doctor and he says, 'You're 10, 20 pounds overweight and getting fatter. Boom – don't eat these foods.'"

And here's an interview with Gary Taubes: