The full title of the book is The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet.
Nina Teicholz tackles the long held mantra that eating fat makes you fat and eating saturated fats clog arteries and cause heart attacks.
Guess what. It was a big con job perpetrated by bad science and then taken up as the mantra by the US health agencies and food manufacturers. Soon there were all kinds of products that were free of fats. To make foods taste good, sugar became the go to substitute.
Teicholz starts the book about demon fat with Ancel Keys and his diet studies about 1950. His studies became a belief system. There were other studies that didn't support that the low fat reduced heart attacks. However, those studies were shouted down by the "experts" or just shunted aside as an anomaly. Those studies didn't support the "low fat high carbo" belief system. Belief systems are hard to change.
There still is no blaring of the message in the headlines -- or the 24 hour cable news stations. There are a few articles about the new information, but it isn't get a whole lot of coverage. It is difficult to change beliefs that have been been touted for decades.
The book is not based on just a couple of studies, but the studies over decades -- both in the US and other countries. The details of the studies from "low fat high carbs" to "high fat low carbs" is most fascinating. The book also describes how highly connected names can drown out the good science.
An interview with the author summarizes the thoughts in the book:
http://mashable.com/2014/05/15/nina-teicholz-bacon-saturated-fats/
A summary article by Nina Teicholz about the fallacy of eating meat:
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/how-americans-used-to-eat/371895/
These are some excellent reviews of the book high lighting the points made about fats.
http://www.caloriegate.com/the-black-box/review-of-nina-teicholzs-big-fat-surprise-a-page-turning-nutritional-whodunnit
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/low-carb-diets/big-fat-surprise/
http://www.afreebooks.com/ebook/the-big-fat-surprise_98631
Sunday, January 18, 2015
4 comments:
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Not so fast, Cowboy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/diet-and-nutrition_b_5266165.html
I read the article and before I finished the article, I was pretty sure this guy was of the "low fat high carb" group. (i.e. The USDA Food Pyramid.) Sure enough. I searched for his name and found his site. It's ironic that he should point out that Teicholz had a book to sell. Katz has had several books. (No doubt his critique sold a few more books.) In spite of what Katz may have read in the book, it doesn't say to eat fat and meat. The book addresses how the "low fat" mantra evolved into an almost religious belief with no real science behind that conclusion.
DeleteEverything in moderation. Fats. Protein. Carbs.
I wonder... have you ever read the book I authored? It's called: Love Never Fails You... I thought I'd ask, since you enjoy reading. Since you are a reader, here is a link to Amazon.com regarding my book: http://www.amazon.com/Love-Never-Fails-Lynn-McKenzie/dp/1613798105/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422571023&sr=1-1&keywords=love+never+fails+you...+lynn+mckenzie
ReplyDeletePlease know that what I posted for you to read, is not an ad. Since I am a fellow blogger, and since you are a reader, I wonder if you have read the book I wrote. Blessings, Lynn
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