Quote Originally Posted by ClubDirt:
asomugha, i think the issue is your taking an extreme position. your body is much more complicated than that.
we aren't saying that calories don't matter. yes, if you eat something, it's going to get used or stored. yes, you can gain weight eating the best calories if you consume more than you need, which is not easy to do with good calories. but yes, 1000 bad calories does not equal 1000 good calories whether we are talking about health, hormonal response, metabolism, biology, or weight gain. your body does not react the same to different nutrients just because we've assigned the same unit of measurement to them, i.e. the calorie.
this guy is saying what we are saying, although he does it better than i am:
Gary Taubes never said calories do not matter. The point is using
calories in/out to "explain" weight gain is a tautology. Acknowledging
this does not invalidate the First Law of Thermodynamics. It is an
attempt to shift ones focus on the hormonal impacts of macronutrient
consumption. The focus on gluttony/sloth - eat less/move more - has not
yielded any consistent long term results since you are fighting your
natural set point. By adjusting the macronutrient composition and more
importantly, avoid Neolithic Agents of Diseases - you can shift the
hormonal response in your favor
We did not evolve with bomb calorimeters and so counting calories is
futile and doesn't work. It's not that calories don't matter, but what
is actionable by using a tautology to improve oneself...nothing.
This was the point of Taubes as I have understood it.
i would add that artificial calorie counting and calorie deprivation screws up yopur metabolism which will ultimately result in a negative weight gain reaction.
Gary Taubes
Born in Rochester, New York, Taubes
studied
applied physics at Harvard University and aerospace engineering at Stanford University (MS, 1978).
After receiving a master's
degree in journalism at Columbia University in 1981,
Taubes joined Discover
magazine as a staff reporter in 1982.
Since then he has written numerous articles for Discover, Science and other magazines.
Originally focusing on physics issues,
his interests have more recently turned to medicine and nutrition.
Taubes's books have all dealt with scientific controversies.
Nobel Dreams takes a critical look at the politics and experimental techniques behind the Nobel Prize-winning work of physicist Carlo Rubbia.
Bad Science is a chronicle of the short-lived media frenzy surrounding the Pons-Fleischmann cold fusion experiments of 1989.