Why We Get Fat
Gary Taubes
21 min
10 Key Points
4.7 RateWhat's inside?
Explore the scientific reasons behind weight gain and discover practical solutions to achieve a healthier lifestyle and body weight.
You'll learn
1. Why do we pack on pounds?2. How do sugar and insulin make us fat?3. Busting diet and exercise myths4. Easy tips to lose weight5. Does our DNA decide our weight?6. Keeping the weight off for goodKey points
01The idea that eating too much and moving too little makes you fat is too simple. Our bodies are more complex than that
Let's talk about weight gain. You've probably heard the old saying, "If you eat more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight. If you burn more than you eat, you'll lose weight." Sounds simple, right? But what if I told you that's not the whole story? Gary Taubes, a well-known science writer, has a different take on this. He says that weight gain isn't just about eating too much and not exercising enough. It's more about what's happening inside our bodies, specifically with our hormones. Let's break it down. When we eat, our bodies release a hormone called insulin. This is especially true when we eat carbs. Insulin's job is to keep our blood sugar levels in check. It does this by helping our cells absorb glucose, which is a type of sugar. But insulin has another job too - it helps our bodies store fat. So, what happens when we eat a lot of carbs, like sugar and white flour? Our bodies release a lot of insulin. And when there's a lot of insulin in our system, our bodies are more likely to store fat instead of burning it for energy. According to Taubes, this is the real reason we gain weight. It's not because we're eating too much or not exercising enough. It's because we're eating the wrong things - foods that make our bodies release a lot of insulin. This idea turns a lot of what we thought we knew about weight gain on its head. It's not just about eating less and moving more. It's about eating the right things. And according to Taubes, that means cutting back on carbs. So, to sum it all up, Taubes believes that the real culprit behind weight gain is a hormonal imbalance caused by eating too many carbs. It's a different way of looking at things, and it could change the way we approach weight loss.
02Obesity isn't just about eating too much. It's a sign of other issues that need to be addressed
"Obesity isn't something you can fix by just eating less. It's a sign that something else is going on that needs to be looked at." This is a key idea that we need to understand when we talk about weight gain and obesity. It's not as simple as eating too much and moving too little. There's more to it than that. Let's think about how we gain weight. It doesn't happen overnight. It's a slow process that can take years. If you notice you're putting on a few extra pounds, the usual advice is to cut back on the calories and get more exercise. But this advice is a bit too simple. It doesn't consider that we all gain weight in different places, and where you carry that extra weight can affect your health. For example, if you carry extra weight around your belly, you're at a higher risk for heart disease than if you carry it on your hips or backside. Back in the 1930s, scientists studying obesity found out that where you store fat in your body is mostly down to your genes. If your mom and dad are overweight, chances are you will be too. And if your family tends to carry extra weight in certain places, you're likely to do the same. This means that being overweight and where you carry that weight isn't just about how much you eat or how much you exercise. The argument here is that it's not just about the calories you eat and burn off, but how your body uses those calories. This is called energy partitioning. Your genes don't control how much you eat, but they do have a say in how your body uses the energy from the food you eat. Some people's bodies might store more energy as fat, while others might use more energy for growth and maintenance. So, let's go back to the beginning. If being overweight was just about eating too much, then everyone who eats the same amount of food would weigh the same. But we know that's not true. Some people can eat a lot and not put on weight, while others seem to gain weight just by looking at food. This tells us that food is part of the weight gain puzzle, but it's not the only piece. Other things, like your genes and how your body uses energy, are also important. As of 2021, over a third of Americans are overweight. That's a lot of people. And it shows just how important it is to understand the many factors that contribute to weight gain and obesity. It's not as simple as just eating less. We need to understand and tackle the root causes of weight gain.
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03Some experts still believe that if you eat more calories than you burn, you'll gain weight. This is based on the law of thermodynamics
04The Laws of Adiposity highlight the importance of understanding how our bodies work in treating obesity
05Overeating and not exercising enough are signs that something's not right in our bodies, not the cause of obesity
06The effect of a hormone on a cell is influenced by many factors, both inside and outside the cell. This shows how complex obesity is
07Cutting down on fructose and alcohol can help keep our insulin levels healthy
08Losing weight is more about what you don't eat, rather than what you do eat
09Until we understand why we get fat, we'll keep falling for fad diets and unnecessary supplements
10Conclusion
About Gary Taubes
Gary Taubes is an American science writer and investigative journalist, known for his work on nutrition and health. He co-founded the non-profit Nutrition Science Initiative and has written several books challenging the conventional understanding of diet, weight loss, and disease.
