Exercise: Not all that and a bag of chips (mmm, chips)
So many people whose opinions I respect are hardcore fans of science journalist Gary Taubes (author of the controversial 2002 New York Times article “What if it’s all a big fat lie?“) that I will definitely be reading his new book.
For a taste of what he’s writing, check out “The Scientist and the Stairmaster,” an excerpt from the book in which Taubes explains why exercise does not make us thinner. (His thoughts on why the Japanese have such long life expectancy despite a diet full of white rice, and why the supposed benefits of red wine are very dubious indeed, are also worth reading.)
I love the fact that there is still so much vigorous debate to be had about how our bodies work - contrary to what you might think if you listen to health fascists, who are very certain that we know all we need to know and should thus be aggressively legislating for a healthier population. Those people don’t know how to have a reasonable, rational discussion with someone like Taubes, but they do have a way of scamming large sections of the public (and vote-hungry politicians). Depressing.
links via Amy Alkon
Filed under: Life
A brilliant article.
The particularly weird thing is that, when you’re diagnosed with diabetes, a consultant explains the mechanisms to you and tells you how your body’s going to be working from now on and what natural behaviour you’re going to have to emulate with injections — and what they’re telling you is exactly what’s in that article: insulin turns sugars and carbohydrates into fat for storage. But, when you’re talking to any other doctor in any other context, they insist that weight-gain is driven by the simple calories-in-minus-calories-out model and that Atkins was a quack.