Fat Chance

Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease

By: Robert H. Lustig

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

Robert Lustig’s 90-minute YouTube video Sugar: The Bitter Truth has been viewed more than two million times. Now, in this much anticipated book, he documents the science and the politics that has led to the pandemic of chronic disease over the last 30 years.

In the late 1970s when the government mandated we get the fat out of our food, the food industry responded by pouring more sugar in. The result has been a perfect storm, disastrously altering our biochemistry and driving our eating habits out of our control.

To help us lose weight and recover our health, Lustig presents personal strategies to readjust the key hormones that regulate hunger, reward, and stress; and societal strategies to improve the health of the next generation. Compelling, controversial, and completely based in science, Fat Chance debunks the widely held notion to prove "a calorie is NOT a calorie", and takes that science to its logical conclusion to improve health worldwide.

©2012 Robert H. Lustig (P)2012 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"No scientist has done more in the last 50 years to alert Americans to the potential dangers of sugar in the diet than Dr. Robert Lustig.” (Gary Taubes, author of Good Calories, Bad Calories and Why We Get Fat)

“Our eating habits are killing us. In this timely and important book, Dr. Robert Lustig presents the scientific evidence for the toxicity of sugar and the disastrous effects of modern industrial food on the hormones that control hunger, satiety, and weight. He gives recommendations for a personal solution to the problem we face and also suggests a public policy solution. Fat Chance is the best book I've read on the relationship between diet and health and the clearest explanation of epidemic obesity in our society.”–Andrew Weil, MD, author of Spontaneous Happiness and You Can’t Afford to Get Sick)

“Fat Chance is THE manifesto for our time. It reveals the real reasons we why we are a fat nation and how to cure the obesity epidemic. It gets right to the root of the problem, which is not gluttony and sloth, as the food industry, government and your neighbor would have you believe. It is because we are drowning in a sea of sugar which poisons our metabolism, shrinks our brains, and threatens our national security and global competitiveness. Every American, politician, teacher, and business leader must read this book. Our nation's future depends on it.” (Mark Hyman, MD, author of The Blood Sugar Solution)

The Case Against Modern Diet.... Closed

If you could sum up Fat Chance in three words, what would they be?

Exhaustive, Comprehensive, Conclusive

What other book might you compare Fat Chance to and why?

Mindsight by Daniel Siegel. Siegel, and especially, Lustig, have trolled vast amounts of modern research data and assembled the myriad pieces into articulate and persuasive arguments for their respective causes: mindfulness in Siegel's case and a diet based on evolutionary principles in Lustig's. Each of these authors provide modern empirical support for wisdom that has been known for millenia.

Which scene was your favorite?

One sugary beverage a day, whether fruit juice or a pop, equals 10-12 pounds of weight gain per year. Six month old infants are being seen at obesity clinics due to the sugar added added to baby formula.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes and I nearly did.

Any additional comments?

Lustig presents a comprehensive analysis of the problem of modern diet, including the contributions of government and industry.

A must read for anyone interested in obesity

Would you consider the audio edition of Fat Chance to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version, but the audio edition was great. It was paced well, and captured the humorous portions of the book well.

Any additional comments?

Fat Chance was great. I can't highly recommend it enough. I will say I noticed at least two mistakes. Wellbutrin isn't an SSRI and dextrin is not a sugar. It is a soluble fiber. I actually really found the political discussions intriguing. I've read another review about it stuffing liberal biases in, but I didn't really see that.

An absolute must read for medical professionals

For any physician who has daily patient interaction, from the surgeon to the family practitioner, this novel will enhance your ability to communicate the importance of self management of obesegenic risk and steps necessary to improve not only your patient's lives but those with whom they interact in their communities.

-Dr. Ryan M. Greene, DO, MS

If you want sustainable health, and wellbeing

An Important, well told story. As thorough as a non-clinical book can be. A great complimentary book to the works of Gary Taube, like "Good Calories Bad Calories" and "Why We Get Fat". Both are highly recommended.

Life-saving information

Well-presented, intensively researched, critical information for every American. Read it to save your life or the life of someone you love.

So informational!

Dr. Lustigs book really breaks it down for you in a way that you can keep up and understand. Not only does he have a scientific approach but I really enjoyed how he was able to explain everything with such detail!

Great Book

This book was a little tedious at times, but that's why I chose the audio version. It has great facts and information, and helps us understand why we do what we do. Here's to a better future!

All the science you need to understand weight gain

As a physician, I am always looking for accurate and concise information to give my patients. This is by far, the best summary of all the studies of weight gain and loss as related to our diets that I have ever seen. He presents the data without bias and is thorough in showing both sides of all the issues in the great nutritional debate. The narrator was easy and pleasant to listen to and I felt like I could recommend this book to people of all education levels.

Magnificent. This book is the truth and on subject

Magnificent. ..This book is the truth everyone with children should read this...If you love your children. Read this book... Save them!!!

Truth about the obesity epidemic

Dr. Lustig has been preaching about sugar and the detriment it has become within the US food chain for some time. This book helps shed light on how deeply rooted the problem really is when government is swayed by lobbyists and big business is consumed by making more money. There is A LOT of info to digest but it is important. It has definitely made me change my mind about how/what I eat. I only wish it had been Dr. Lustig narrating. Enjoy!