Good Calories, Bad Calories

Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health

By: Gary Taubes

Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain

Length: 25 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

This groundbreaking book by award-winning science writer and bestselling author of Why We Get Fat and The Case for Keto shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.

For decades we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet despite this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Taubes argues that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates, like white flour, easily digested starches, and sugars, and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number.

Called “a very important book,” by Andrew Weil and …” destined to change the way we think about food,” by Michael Pollan, this groundbreaking book by award-winning science writer Gary Taubes shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.

©2007 Gary Taubes (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“If Taubes were inclined to sensationalism, he might have titled this book The Great Low-Fat Diet Hoax. Instead, he tackles the subject with the seriousness and scientific insight it deserves, building a devastating case against the low-fat, high-carb way of life endorsed by so many nutrition experts in recent years. With diabetes and heart disease at stake as well as obesity, those ‘experts’ owe us an abject apology.” (Barbara Ehrenreich)

“Good Calories, Bad Calories is a remarkable accomplishment. From a mountain of diverse scientific evidence Gary Taubes has drawn an amazingly detailed and compelling picture of how diet, obesity, and heart disease link together–and how some of the world’s most important medical researchers got the story colossally wrong. Taubes proves, I think beyond doubt, that the dietary advice we’ve been given for the last three decades by the federal government and the major medical bodies rests on, shall we say, a slender empirical base.” (Charles C. Mann, author of 1491)

“A brave and bold science journalist . . . Taubes does not bow to the current fashion for narrative nonfiction, instead building his argument case by case . . . much of what Taubes relates will be eye-opening.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Fascinating . . . Mr. Taubes has a gift for turning complex scientific principles into engaging narrative.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Well researched!

This is a great analysis of modern diet with references to hundreds of studies and a very objective and rational approach.

Excellent review

Thought provoking and powerful argument for science in a field so devoid of it!
Leaders in this field need to get off their horses and get on with it!

A bit like drinking from a firehose, but worth it

A tour de force comprehensive review of all the 'science' behind the current thinking of what constitutes a healthy diet, pointing out the many flaws in the research and where people got it wrong. Not for the casual listener but more for those who truly want to understand the history of how here. Taubs could have condensed his story a lot but it is an amazing piece of comprehensive investigative reporting that is unparalleled and invaluable reading for those who really desire to understand all this. I don't regret my time investment in this book.

Amazing

Medical researchers are afraid that eating carbohydrates is what has caused the obesity epidemic therefore they refuse to do a study that would prove that and thus expose the corrupt nature of the research community!
They have overturned 150 years of medical practice with only options and not science! Thus 70% of Americans are now obese due to their recommendations to eat a high carbohydrate diet!

Good book, with someone with nutritional knowledge

This book is a long book, but very informative and reinforces a lot of the theories that are known currently. This book currently reinforces recent research which I before never heard of so this book must have been ahead of its time. Good luck overall, but a little bit long.

Must read

A must read for anyone serious about understanding nutrition. Repeat with both scientific information, and thorough historical perspective.

Eye opening

This was a wonderful book. It’s full of scientific information. I feel as though my eyes have been opened.

Carbohydrates, not calories count.

thorough, clear-eyed look at diet fads, and how science and government ignored what works, protein and fats, with very little carbohydrate and sugar.

Good source for medical research & understanding.

Explains the good and bad research available and how the body works. thank you

Enlightening

I have to recommend this book to everyone

it's the most logical thing available to understand the history of food and obesity