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Who wants to extort money from whom?.. ...beside the food industry, which thrives by having people overeat?

by pygy_ 16y ago

yummyfajitas 16y ago
Quacks selling books certainly want to take money from people wishing they could be thinner (but who are unwilling to eat less and exercise more). (Another variant is selling books telling you "it's not your fault you are fat." I haven't read it, but the impression I get from people who have is that Gary Taubes book falls into this category.)
- jerf 16y ago
  It's time you give in and read the primary materials. As someone who has read both the major Taubes books, I am yet to see you successfully characterize his arguments. Please note I did not say "successfully attack his arguments", because that is something else; characterizing them correctly is a necessary first step. You think you understand them, but when you try to explain them to someone else you are wrong about them. Again, I am not saying that the arguments Taubes makes are right or wrong, I am saying I have not yet seen you correctly explain them. That is not an adequate summary of the latest Gary Taubes book, which is, well, exactly what the title says. If there is something you can "do" about it it's hardly "not your fault" now, is it? He's not a quack. There are a lot of people who want you to think he's a quack, but he's not. He may not be right but he is certainly not a quack. For that matter if he's a quack in his latest book for suggesting that the science of endocrinology should be taken seriously on the topic of how fat works, then the entire science of endocrinology is quackery. (Incidentally, I mean literally "how fat works"; not "how one becomes obese" but the actual workings of what fat cells take for input, what they give as output, and what affects the two, all of it coming from endocrinology.)
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    I don't claim to know much about Taubes, nor did I claim to characterize his arguments. Perhaps you noticed that I explicitly disclaimed any direct knowledge of his book? My only direct knowledge of him is reading one of his blog posts and finding it very misleading, attempting to make a reducto ad absurdum against the standard calories in/calories out theory while ignoring about 90% of the calories in. Not exactly a compelling reason to shell out $11 and hours of my time on his book.
    - jerf 16y ago
      Here's a reason: Based on reading your other posts, I think you may be very surprised and end up liking his writing. Taubes' science writing is the best I've ever encountered. (And no, that's not because it's the only science writing I've ever encountered, not by a long shot.) Whether he ends up right or wrong in the end, you can not accuse him of not having done his homework, especially in GCBC. I won't guarantee it will convince you, but I am asserting to you that you have misjudged him very badly and I have only rarely seen people show their work more thoroughly, and that only in PhD theses. (That said about the depth of GCBC, start with the latest one. It's shorter and sharper.)
- GrandMasterBirt 16y ago
  This does not say "its not your fault" its more of "its not your fault for being ignorant to the harm of sugar, but its still up to you to watch what you eat". Its like saying "its not your fault, smoking is addictive"... thats right, its addictive, and now that you know its killing you and has no benefit, you as a rational human being need to put yourself in a position where you can quit by destroying your cigs and forcing everyone you know to never permit you of smoking, and ensure you are not even if you try to hide it, and give you shit if they smell it, etc. there are ways, there is help, but its still the responsibility of the person no matter who's fault it is.
- viggity 16y ago
  Good Calories, Bad Calories (by Taubes) is none of those things. It is not a diet book, it is a book about diet. Any layman who picks it up to read it will almost immediately put it down due to the very dense text full of medical jargon. I thought it was a very thought provoking book. I really don't know how one is going to become insanely rich by pedaling a book like that.
jberryman 16y ago
I'm guessing the gp was referring to the many "detox" programs, which claim to remove unnamed "toxins" from the body through fasting, eating raw food, lots of pooping, etc.

Who wants to extort money from whom?.. ...beside the food industry, which thrives by having people overeat?

by pygy_ 16y ago

Who wants to extort money from whom?.. ...beside the food industry, which thrives by having people overeat?

Quacks selling books certainly want to take money from people wishing they could be thinner (but who are unwilling to eat less and exercise more). (Another variant is selling books telling you "it's not your fault you are fat." I haven't read it, but the impression I get from people who have is that Gary Taubes book falls into this category.)

jerf 16y ago
It's time you give in and read the primary materials. As someone who has read both the major Taubes books, I am yet to see you successfully characterize his arguments. Please note I did not say "successfully attack his arguments", because that is something else; characterizing them correctly is a necessary first step. You think you understand them, but when you try to explain them to someone else you are wrong about them. Again, I am not saying that the arguments Taubes makes are right or wrong, I am saying I have not yet seen you correctly explain them. That is not an adequate summary of the latest Gary Taubes book, which is, well, exactly what the title says. If there is something you can "do" about it it's hardly "not your fault" now, is it? He's not a quack. There are a lot of people who want you to think he's a quack, but he's not. He may not be right but he is certainly not a quack. For that matter if he's a quack in his latest book for suggesting that the science of endocrinology should be taken seriously on the topic of how fat works, then the entire science of endocrinology is quackery. (Incidentally, I mean literally "how fat works"; not "how one becomes obese" but the actual workings of what fat cells take for input, what they give as output, and what affects the two, all of it coming from endocrinology.)
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  I don't claim to know much about Taubes, nor did I claim to characterize his arguments. Perhaps you noticed that I explicitly disclaimed any direct knowledge of his book? My only direct knowledge of him is reading one of his blog posts and finding it very misleading, attempting to make a reducto ad absurdum against the standard calories in/calories out theory while ignoring about 90% of the calories in. Not exactly a compelling reason to shell out $11 and hours of my time on his book.
  - jerf 16y ago
    Here's a reason: Based on reading your other posts, I think you may be very surprised and end up liking his writing. Taubes' science writing is the best I've ever encountered. (And no, that's not because it's the only science writing I've ever encountered, not by a long shot.) Whether he ends up right or wrong in the end, you can not accuse him of not having done his homework, especially in GCBC. I won't guarantee it will convince you, but I am asserting to you that you have misjudged him very badly and I have only rarely seen people show their work more thoroughly, and that only in PhD theses. (That said about the depth of GCBC, start with the latest one. It's shorter and sharper.)
GrandMasterBirt 16y ago
This does not say "its not your fault" its more of "its not your fault for being ignorant to the harm of sugar, but its still up to you to watch what you eat". Its like saying "its not your fault, smoking is addictive"... thats right, its addictive, and now that you know its killing you and has no benefit, you as a rational human being need to put yourself in a position where you can quit by destroying your cigs and forcing everyone you know to never permit you of smoking, and ensure you are not even if you try to hide it, and give you shit if they smell it, etc. there are ways, there is help, but its still the responsibility of the person no matter who's fault it is.
viggity 16y ago
Good Calories, Bad Calories (by Taubes) is none of those things. It is not a diet book, it is a book about diet. Any layman who picks it up to read it will almost immediately put it down due to the very dense text full of medical jargon. I thought it was a very thought provoking book. I really don't know how one is going to become insanely rich by pedaling a book like that.

jberryman 16y ago

I'm guessing the gp was referring to the many "detox" programs, which claim to remove unnamed "toxins" from the body through fasting, eating raw food, lots of pooping, etc.