Navigating the Changing Dietary Recommendations

Westernization and the Global Obesity Epidemic

Debunking the Calories In, Calories Out Belief

 

Gary Taubes Notable Quotes

“When populations become westernized, they tend to eat fewer carbohydrates as a percentage of their calories, but the carbohydrates they consumed changed dramatically in the processing and effect. So they go from eating minimally-processed carbohydrates to maximally-processed carbohydrates…so you change the nature of the carbs to a form that this population, these individuals, can’t metabolize, and then you start getting all the problems that come from there. But it’s not the amount of carbs that change, it’s the quality of carbs that change.”

                                                – Gary Taubes

“One of the things you always want to do as a scientist is never commit to having discovered or having observed something fully because there’s always this huge likelihood that you’re wrong. And once you commit to belief…then, other scientists will come along and make a sort of secondary mistake, which is to assume you are right and to build on what you did without redoing experiments and critically analyzing what you’ve done to begin with. And then you get generations of generations of scientists building their edifice on top of what’s ultimately a mistake that was made originally. And the whole thing is wrong. ”
– Gary Taubes

 

Episode Summary

Over the last century, the prescribed dietary guidelines have constantly been changing—from promoting a low-fat diet, to recommending a carbohydrate-rich diet, and everything in between—and people have followed them. But why has obesity skyrocketed, and why is it continuing to spread at a rapid rate across the globe?

In this episode of This Podcast Burns Fat, we’re talking to investigative science and health journalist Gary Taubes to peel away at the reasons why the obesity epidemic is continuously spreading and to understand how nutrition works for different populations.

 

Relevant Links

Gary Taubes – Website | Twitter | Facebook

The Case for Keto: Rethinking Weight Control and the Science and Practice of Low-Carb/High-Fat Eating (2020) by Gary Taubes
Get it on IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

The Case Against Sugar (2016) by Gary Taubes
Get it on IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It (2011) by Gary Taubes
Get it on IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

 

In this Episode of This Podcast Burns Fat!

• Omar and Lori introduce the episode’s guest, Gary Taubes (00:48)
• Gary Taubes, scientific investigative journalism, and The Case for Keto (03:28)
• How Gary Taubes’ perception of low-carb diets changed (06:18)
• Gary Taubes’ thoughts on the growing obesity epidemic (10:18)
  • Westernizing a previously traditional diet (11:02)
  • The culprits: sugar and flour (11:37)
• Carbohydrates then versus the carbohydrates we eat now (16:37)
• Industrial seed oils added to various foods (18:22)
• Combined sugar and fat equals inflammation? (20:44)
• Debunking the simplistic calories in, calories out model (25:16)
  • The issue with “perfectly balancing” the calories we intake (28:50)
• Epigenetics and the changes with our fat storage (32:14)
  • Haphazardly throwing around the term, “overeating” (34:55)
• Admitting mistakes and taking a closer look at paradigms (36:16)
• The experience of fighting an uphill battle (39:33)
• The benefits to reap from the ketogenic diet (42:07)
• What Gary Taubes eats (47:32)
  • It takes practice. You’ll get used to it. (49:40)
• Where to find and keep in touch with Gary Taubes (53:42)

 

Don’t forget to check out!

The Art of Sugar-free Cooking: Recipes for Healthy Living by Omar Cumberbatch

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