The case against sugar
author of Why We Get Fat, a groundbreaking, eye-opening expose that makes the convincing case that sugar is the tobacco of the new millennium: backed by powerful lobbies, entrenched in our lives, and making us very sick. Among Americans, diabetes is more prevalent today than ever; obesity is at epidemic proportions; nearly 10% of children are thought to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. And sugar is at the root of these, and other, critical society-wide, health-related problems. With his signature command of both science and straight talk, Gary Taubes delves into Americans' history with sugar: its uses as a preservative, as an additive in cigarettes, the contemporary overuse of high-fructose corn syrup. He explains what research has shown about our addiction to sweets. He clarifies the arguments against sugar, corrects misconceptions about the relationship between sugar and weight loss; and provides the perspective necessary to make informed decisions about sugar as individuals and as a society"
Stats for nerds
10recommend
23mentions
21people
2017–2026years
43% recommend48% neutral9% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- A good book that explains it all is The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes, which came out the same year as this article.
Like many truths, it's actually well-known and frequently discussed in public, but hard to hear amongst all the noise of corporate messaging and decades of bad dietary 'advice' from both public and private institutions.
To paraphrase the Oracle in the Matrix: What's really going to bake your noodle later on is--saturated fat isn't the culprit in CVD either. And that's equally well-supported yet drowned out for the same reasons ('nonfat all the things!').
- The books "The Case Against Sugar" and "Tripping over the Truth: How the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Is Overturning One of Medicine's Most Entrenched Paradigms" seems worth plugging.
Sugar is not safe, even though it is ubiquitous.
For many reasons avoiding meat seems reasonable, too. I used to be full vegetarian, for years, and then eventually re-added salmon and sardines.
It's a tiny step to full-on vegetarian keto, which is as good for you as full-on fasting is, I think.
I don't eat breakfast, veggie omelette for lunch (sautee some mushrooms and zuccini, or broccoli, perhaps, crack some eggs in once they cook down, give lots of olive oil and a side of something like kimchi, cabbage, or a pickle.
Usually eat whatever I want for dinner, including icecream, sometimes, but I spend most of the day in a low-sugar state of being, and if I 'clean up' my dinner(s) it's easy to eat a zero-added-sugar, extremely-low-carb, no-animal-protein, extremely-satiating form of food intake.
I really like it for me, and when I cook any of my foods, either when trying to be 'keto' or adding things like sweet potato, banana bread, ice cream, pizza, whatever, it's always well-received and considered delicious.
- He's not exactly new to the domain, now.
One thing I appreciate with Taubes (having read his early books, not the more recent ones -- I really liked The case against sugar), is that he has an epistemologically correct approach to the problem. He looks at it through the eyes of a rigorous scientist, unlike most people in nutrition science.
For the most part, he was very cautious in his claim and spent most of his time discussing why claims accepted as correct are completely full of shit. It's likely that, through time, he built a corpus of knowledge and understanding that allow him to be a bit more assertive today (again, I've not read his recent work), but really, his early books are, in my opinion, remarkable for their thoroughness and intellectual honesty.
- I recommend Peter Attia's podcast, The Drive, for the best talks about sugar consumption and the body's response.
For something to read, Gary Taubes' "The Case Against Sugar" was pretty good.
- I can highly recommend the books "Why do we get fat and what we can do about it" or "the case against sugar" by Gary Taubes which are related to this.
- This book, and "The Case Against Sugar" have been, by far, the two most impactful books in my life in recent years. They've genuinely changed my life for the better.
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