Taubes has written another book. Much writing ensued, back and forth. The in group cannot countenance the out group; and the out group can read. Nothing has been settled since the last time Taubes wrote a book.
But I am also thinking about this belief/unbelief thing. More and more, I think this is a very bad road to go down, especially if you are a Christian. I know, you think (or feel) that it is very important what you believe. Meanwhile, global warming people think it is very important you believe too. And I wonder if the enemy doesn't also think it is very important to think what you believe is important. If we are honest, we can point to things we thought were true, things most likely perpetrated upon us by the media, or teachers, that we later found out was not true.
What if they teach you to fear what is beneficial, and love what is harmful? What if you are sincere in your beliefs? Sincerely misled?
We like to think this can happen with small things, but not the higher order things.
Anyway, I am going to suggest a very simplistic insulin hypothesis:
When insulin is low, you can burn fat; when insulin is high, you can't.
It may be wrong in some way, but it is a good map. You remember maps, don't you? Back before your phone told you where to go you looked at piece of paper. Maps were usually were not high resolution photographs, but blocky graphics and lines giving you a general idea of where things were in relation to other things.
So this insulin hypothesis helps you figure some stuff out. Things that promote insulin, like refined carbs, are probably not good to be eating all the time.
But it also might help you to infer other things- like, if you are going to cheat, you might want to go for something really awesome and satisfying, have an insulin spike, and get back on track. Complex carbohydrates, it seems to me, are probably the most overrated things in the world. They are usually grains and less nutritious than a range of other things. The idea, is that they won't raise your insulin too much, but they do raise your insulin- not as high as a fast carb, but it's higher than it could be for longer.
Fat seems to move insulin the least, protein moves it a little, and carbohydrates move it a lot. The more refined your protein and carbohydrates, the more likely the spike will be high.
Additionally, I have noticed a banana will leave me hungry again in an hour, but brisket can mean not being hungry for hours. Our responses to foods differ, but this is one I am pretty sure the nutritionist crowd consistently ignore.
What is interesting is that this simplistic hypothesis also works if you do have superhuman will and can eat that banana. So you have the iron will of a god and don't give in- eventually insulin falls to the point where you can start burning fat again. So your 500 calories banana diet can work. Fasting works.
But generally, people need hacks because they don't have the iron will.
So, I basically did the Shangri-la Diet, plus paleo, plus low-carb, plus I started limiting my calories to 1500 when I realized I wasn't as hungry anymore.
But I also tended to have something sweet on the weekends. I like to pick things with no gums, fillers, etc... Haagen Daz tends to win here. You do still have to read the labels because some of their lines have crap in them.
And if folks were thinking along these probably faulty, simplistic insulin hypothesis, I bet they could do it too. Yes, the Shangri-La diet helps blunt appetite, but picking the brisket instead of the banana is at least as strong. Throw everything at it, and get prescription for UDCA from your doctor, to head off any gall bladder issues, if you actually start losing a lot of weight.
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