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)

Heavy on science, as compelling as The China Study

The science is a bit hard to get through, but it's good science and well presented. I've been reading every nutrition book I can get my hands on in the past several years to try and understand what is actually good nutrition despite all the conflicting and confusing information out there. This book is in my top 2 with The China Study out of dozens. The author gives good sound advice on how to navigate the treacherous food landscape we all live in to eat and drink our way to better health.

inspiring!

I read everything I can from this author. His calling and approach and the way he shares it is one of the main reasons I am as healthy as I am. Now if I could just get my adult kids on board.

Reader doesn’t understand heteronyms

The book is fine, lots of great info and I learned a lot. But I would think that a professional reader would know when to say choose how to pronounce words like “live”, “use”, “produce” and “close” when reading a book. 90% of the time this reader gets the heteronyms wrong. If this doesn’t bother you, then give it a listen.

Great content, very concise and clear.

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

I didn't read the print version however I had couple thoughts about buying the print version as well It's just some much good information.

What did you like best about this story?

Very good points,based somewhat by science.

Any additional comments?

I really recommend.

Truth

I can speak from experience this is not only killing us physically but mentally. Almost everyone is on some kind of psychiatric medication 3-4 I think it’s the percent. And it’s all being caused by our American diet.

Listen to this book. Then move to make change.

We need to remove this poison from the lives of our families and children's school. Clear scientific presentation of the health hazards of sugar. And a clear plan of action. You will want to take action after listening to this book.

Good Science, Good Book

Would you listen to Fat Chance again? Why?

This book offered me scientific proof of the recommendations without being over technical. I would listen again to get even more clarification of the concepts, and a better understanding, and to remind myself of the things I want to try. I bookmarked sections to refer back to later.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I don't know that it could have been more enjoyable. There was enough science to make it believable, and enough normal talk to make it "readable".

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

It would have been too much information for me to digest in all one sitting.

Any additional comments?

I definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to understand more about the body's ability to deal with food. It is interesting to learn about, and more scientific than I would typically want to read but worth every minute.

Fat people better be reading this!!!

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

Exercise, fat people!!!

What did you like best about this story?

The author is simply amazing, he gave so many real life case studies of obese and fat people whom despite being so obscenely fat just refuse to do anything about themselves, and expect the health care system to take care of their failing kidneys,livers and hearts. Did you know that most items you're surrounded with has estrogen? That means using Victoria Secret for your 4 year old will make grow her boobs

Which scene was your favorite?

The victoria secret bath that grew the girl's boobs and the obese man who begged and got a new kidney only to come back within 6 months to replace it-AGAIN plus some additional pounds

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Fat people beware!

Excellent material

If you want to understand what you can do to better your diet and lose weight! Great reference, doesn't have all the answers but very real! I'm a DC and Dr. Lustig is very dead on with his topic in this book!

Eye opening

I thought I understood that carbs were generally bad, but now I understand why. This book goes in depth into the science behind food.

Summary - eat real food.