This audio book is about to change my life. I have struggled with being overweight all of my life. As most people like me, I have tried every diet, at least once. I'm here to tell you that they all work, as long as you stay on them. I have always had these nagging questions in my mind...Why me? Why do I eat less than my thin husband, and not lose weight, What diet is best for me and why are there so many of them? What is the actual reason that I get fat, and stay fat, and others don't, when their lifestyle and eating regimes are similar to mine? This book answers it all, and goes a step further, maybe more times than necessary. Just as there is a scientific reason and solution for many things, there is the same for obese people. The answer is here..it might not be the answer you want, but it is here for you (and mainly me) to take it and run with it if you truly want to change your life enough to embark on it! Thank you Gary, for your hard work and passion, to put this extremely valuable information out there for me!

If it is so obvious to reach a weight loss objective through a carbohydrate deficiency then why are there so many obese people that go to the gym, this to me clearly states that there is an obvious nutritional knowledge defecit that even personal trainers don't seem to understand or are reluctant to share with their clients. Day after day though these commited individuals will try to lose weight by burning calories and then try to restrict caloric intake through the use of will power.

Gary goes over many cases in which different societies have become obese and aludes to their adherence to more 'civilised' feeding habits as the cause for their poor health. I think that it is necessary to go into the detail of where we as human beings became more and more reliant on such a simple and non-essential nutrients and how this reliance has affected us as humans.

The book gets to the point very slowly, however, changing habitual behaviour for some does require research based evidence and this is about as close as you're going to get in an audio book format. I strongly recommend this audiobook to anyone that has been trying to lose weight through dieting or is struggling to stay on their strict caloric restricted regime.

Will power will only get you so far!

I agree with the one comment about this book is just more or less stop eating and drinking carbs, but I am glad I GOT this book anyway because its more than that. It is nice to finally understand how the body really works around getting fat and why we get fat and the logic behind so many myths and other diets and why things don't work, fail or fall short of losing weight. So it was refreshing to get a handle on why it is a good idea and what happens when we eat and drink carbs along with our HDL and LDL levels and how that effects our cells and our problem with getting fat. This book is going to really help me and finally help me change my life around as far as why I am always struggling to lose the weight and I now see how I have been failing and why. Its worth the price, no problem. Thank you Gary Taubes.

You can find accompanying attachment on the bottom of "Publisher's Summary" which is on the top of the page for the book here on Audible. The link says "Download the accompanying reference guide". I have to admit it was not obvious place to look and took me few minutes to realize it was there.

Finally a scientific explanation for why we get fat! I could not put this book down from beginning to end. Ultra informative. Ever wonder why the Adkins diet works? This book thoroughly answers all your questions in detail. I thought this book was life altering and a totally satisfied any questions about WHY we eat the way we do and what affect it has on us.

I read the book, but I wanted the audio version to listen to in the car and on the go. This is information all Americans need. We are eating a diet which will kill us in the end. What we thought as the normal American diet is going to be our undoing!! We didnt' know... but now we do. All the research is interestingly provided to us and one cannot listen to this without realizing a change has to be made. I have lost 30 lbs so far, and expect to reach the proper weight for my height paying attention to the research presented in this book: a low carb diet is the healthy way to go--- carbs are for special occasions, and great care should be taken to eat the right ones in the right amount. It's been fairly easy and I am so grateful I found this book when I did. I have heard the information before, but I never knew WHY we needed to eat low carb. I guess I am one who has be convinced, and convinced I am!

I knew I had to change my eating habits - yes, I'm overweight and would like to lose weight but I wanted to stop the continuous eating and the amounts I was eating. I couldn't understand the constant need to put food in my mouth - sugary food, cakes, biscuits, sweets etc. Gary Taubes explains very clearly (albeit repetitively!) that what I am eating is slowly but surely destroying me and all I can look forward to as I get older is diabetes, heart disease and obesity. It's not going to be easy to change my eating habits but in order to get well and stay well I have to - it's not about the scales or my clothes fitting me, it's about living and feeling well. I now have the clarity and understanding that I was missing before and it's thanks to this book.

Lots of people have asked for the accompanying material. It seems to be very essential while going through this book. I myself am only at chapter 6 and decided to send an email to Audible customer support about the material. I can't say for certain that the material was available before I requested but all I can say is that it is now available towards the bottom of the book description area for the book on the website. The download link is http://download.audible.com/product_related_docs/BK_RAND_002472.zip. Normally I can get by without any additional material but If you haven't read this book yet I encourage you to get the material as well and if possible refer to it before you start the book. I think it makes a big difference in this case.

So far the anti "calories in calories out" argument is being beaten to death in this book, i say this because I never really subscribed to this approach anyway, but it is good to know that it can be beaten to death with real evidence as opposed to anecdotal evidence from my own personal experiences.

Very engaging book, so far. (I take one star off for the beating to death of the topic).

If you need inspiration to get you going on dieting for 2011, this will do it! Although the basic principles are known to those of us who are avid readers on how to lose weight, and this book essentially covers those basics, this author is very good at explaining difficult material such that all can understand. Further, there is a surprising twist that leaves one with an "Aha" experience. We all know which foods we should cut out, but do we REALLY understand why? If not, then one is not really motivated to do what is necessary. This author motivates!

I really appreciated the narrator's slow careful enunciation of this difficult material.

Very clear science and the person who said that his message is to stop eating carbs missed the book. This is not a diet book. The message was to reduce eating processed carbs like grains that cause people to get fat..which was just a small part of the book. He presented all the historical data and even what hapens to cultures that start eating a western diet what happens. Thanks to the author for more details and data on the subject.