Taubes or not?

[CJay]

Hi Everyone, 

I don’t generally agree with many (any?) nutrition authors and Taubes is IMO wrong about many things.  That said, I appreciate things he brings to light & find his perspective of the literature valuable for further inquiry. 
 

I’m curious what other people have thought about his work- what do you think he has correct or not and what brings you to that conclusion? 
 

-Casey 

Inspired by my respect of Attia of course, even while being an ethical vegan who thinks most the “science” of vegan healthism is at least as flawed as Taubes. 

[mccoy]

CJAy, maybe you are posting after having seen the latest podcast from P. Attia, guest Gary Taubes.

The episode is interesting because it features what Taubes was before his interest in nutrition, an investigative journalist in science and physics.

My personal impression presently is that he doesn't act as he preach. He supports a scientific method, but everything seems to be ruled by his preconception about the low carb diet.

He still clings tenaciously to his theory of  insulin as a base for the obesity, whereas the literature is repeleted with conreary evidence (first of all the recent NIH articles with Kevin Hall and others). Of course, the matter is very complex and you are right in that his contribute is valuable as a necessary critique of the accepted narrative. Necessary, but sometimes obnoxious.

My belief is that he has a wide following and now he's trapped into the low-carb religion he contributed to create. His income derives significantly from his audience, so he sort of adjusted his mind in such a way that the evidence contrary to his religion is probably flawed in some unperceivable way.

When he described how he liked the ultra-fat beef steak he was gifted, my sudden thought was what is his cholesterol, and that Peter Attia supports an as-low-as-possible cholesterol level. That ultra fat steak was also extremely expensive. The Paleo diet, especially so the grassfed paleo is definitely not an affordable one.

My bottom line: Taubes is usually wrong and he doesn't like to admit it, contrary to evidence. But something of what he says is probably right, insulin governs GH and IGF-1 which is a potent anabolic hormone. It is hard to think that it has no or little effect on obesity.

 

 

[Todd Allen]

8 hours ago, mccoy said:

That ultra fat steak was also extremely expensive. The Paleo diet, especially so the grassfed paleo is definitely not an affordable one.

There are much less expensive options then wagyu beef.  While not quite as fatty, lamb is a fraction of the price and I can trim the leaner bits off for my dog and achieve an excellent fat/$ ratio.

 

[mccoy]

Wagyu beef, right, first time I heard about it and it is one extremely costly item, not representative of the average.

Anyhow, the ideal paleo diet, grassfed meat and salmon, is decisively very expensive. I bought regular farmed salmon for my wife and I was surprised by its high cost.

Canned sardines are cheap though. And some cuts of chicken. The farmed variety. And regular eggs.

Edited July 1, 2021 by mccoy

[CJay]

On 6/30/2021 at 11:55 PM, mccoy said:

CJAy, maybe you are posting after having seen the latest podcast from P. Attia, guest Gary Taubes.

The episode is interesting because it features what Taubes was before his interest in nutrition, an investigative journalist in science and physics.

My personal impression presently is that he doesn't act as he preach. He supports a scientific method, but everything seems to be ruled by his preconception about the low carb diet.

He still clings tenaciously to his theory of  insulin as a base for the obesity, whereas the literature is repeleted with conreary evidence (first of all the recent NIH articles with Kevin Hall and others). Of course, the matter is very complex and you are right in that his contribute is valuable as a necessary critique of the accepted narrative. Necessary, but sometimes obnoxious.

My belief is that he has a wide following and now he's trapped into the low-carb religion he contributed to create. His income derives significantly from his audience, so he sort of adjusted his mind in such a way that the evidence contrary to his religion is probably flawed in some unperceivable way.

When he described how he liked the ultra-fat beef steak he was gifted, my sudden thought was what is his cholesterol, and that Peter Attia supports an as-low-as-possible cholesterol level. That ultra fat steak was also extremely expensive. The Paleo diet, especially so the grassfed paleo is definitely not an affordable one.

My bottom line: Taubes is usually wrong and he doesn't like to admit it, contrary to evidence. But something of what he says is probably right, insulin governs GH and IGF-1 which is a potent anabolic hormone. It is hard to think that it has no or little effect on obesity.

 

 

I’m really sorry for my dumb delay! I believe my notifications (email) we’re going to spam.

 

I appreciate your thought out opinion.  I’ve felt similarly about him so it was odd to find him on Attia’s podcast- as I generally appreciate Peter’s critical reading of literature.