The Big Fat Surprise

Why Butter, Meat, and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet

By: Nina Teicholz

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times bestseller
Named one of The Economist’s Books of the Year 2014
Named one of The Wall Street Journal’s Top Ten Best Nonfiction Books of 2014
Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Books of 2014
Forbes’s Most Memorable Healthcare Book of 2014

In The Big Fat Surprise, investigative journalist Nina Teicholz reveals the unthinkable: that everything we thought we knew about dietary fat is wrong. She documents how the low-fat nutrition advice of the past sixty years has amounted to a vast uncontrolled experiment on the entire population, with disastrous consequences for our health. Dish up the red meat, eggs, and whole milk!

For decades, Americans have cut back on red meat and dairy products full of “bad” saturated fats. We obediently complied with nutritional guidelines to eat “heart healthy” fats found in olive oil, fish, and nuts, and followed a Mediterranean diet heavy on fruits, vegetables, and grains. Yet the nation’s health has declined. What is going on?

In The Big Fat Surprise, Teicholz reveals how sixty years of nutrition science has gotten it so wrong: how overzealous researchers have made basic scientific mistakes that, through a mix of ego and bias, allow dangerous misrepresentations to become dogma, and how scientists who dared oppose this consensus have been ostracized. For eight years, Teicholz has pored over the massive research literature and interviewed hundreds of leading experts to unravel the shockingly distorted claims of nutrition studies. She brings these researchers to life and shows how their ambitions, loyalties, and rivalries have undermined a field of research already full of difficult pitfalls.

With a lively narrative style akin to Michael Pollan’s in The Omnivore’s Dilemma and the scientific rigor of Gary Taubes in Good Calories, Bad Calories, Teicholz convincingly upends the conventional wisdom about all fats. Her groundbreaking claim is that more dietary fat leads to better health, wellness, and fitness. Science shows that reducing the saturated fat in our diets has been disastrous for our health as a nation, and we can, guilt-free, welcome these “whole fats” back into our lives.

©2014 Nina Teicholz (P)2014 Blackstone Audiobooks

Big Edible Oil Worse Than Big Oil

Just as it ought not to surprise any of us that health in America has declined since 1960, so ought it not surprise us that a low-fat, high carb diet is the cause. Everything the heart-diet hypothesis was designed to protect has been made worse. Some will be surprised at the culprits this author claims are behind this tragedy, but it seems pretty obvious in this interesting and well-researched book.

Lipid Enlightenment

So, I have lived a keto lifestyle for almost two years and thought I was pretty aware of the politics of lipids, but this book was very enlightening. Do not let the 2014 cause you to think this is not current, it is very much on the cutting edge of the science. Ms. Teicholz is a very skilled science journalist and I highly recommend this book!

The Big Fat Lie

What did you love best about The Big Fat Surprise?

This book shows how authoritarianism has corrupted nutrition practices. It shows that the healthy diet is the exact opposite of what the government mandates. High carbohydrates cause heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other diseases. Meat, cheese, milk, cream, eggs and other saturated fats are an important part of a diet.

What did you like best about this story?

This book summarizes an extraordinary amount of scientific information in an way that is easily understood by the layman.

What does Erin Bennett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The story is lively and compelling.

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

yes

Nice to know where that FDA Food Pyramid came from

Would you consider the audio edition of The Big Fat Surprise to be better than the print version?

Audio is always the way I get through books, I can multi task as I listen.

Any additional comments?

Ever since I started noticing the FDA food pyramid on food labels, I've continued to question where it came from and how we could possibly eat all those breads and cereals it advocated. Appreciated thorough telling of the how America's eating has changed, why and when. Surprised but not Unfortunately for America one loud person can start beating the drum with bad science even. They get politically connected, and backed by the media and blammo America is convinced. Woah!Now time to get back to proper nutritional satisfying eating. Thank God this generation questions the status quo and demands their bacon! I'm grateful.

A diet of truth

Many books are beginning to bring to light the improper diets foisted on us by food corporations. This is one of the better ones.

Extremely enlightening

I loved hearing about the battle of Fat vs Carbohydrates. Thanks for liberating my diet.
I wish everyone could be open minded enough to read or listen to this book.

Well Researched

Excellent documentation. Makes one angry at our political and sorry state of Academia. Should be required reading for all.

Most impactful book I have heard this decade!

This book is a wealth of carefully researched factual knowledge. You can easily verify the conclusions made because the author clearly states how she came to the conclusion and through what research. I am shocked that this information has been hidden for so long. This book is a must read if you care about your health, struggle with weight issues or are experiencing any of the numerous metabolic diseases around today. There is hope for you in the conclusions and factual insights of this book! Please give it a try. Your life will be changed!

Fascinating take

Thanks Nina for doing this research and writing this book! At the very least, it's clear that we should question much, and at the most, we ought to change everything about what we eat. After doing a ketogenic diet and seeing weight loss beyond any other method, I would agree she's onto something. Cheers to butter! Eggs! Bacon!

Nina Teicholz is so great!

This book was informative and excellent. I enjoyed listening to it. I recommend it! 👍🏻