In a message dated 10/24/2007 8:55:43 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
[log in to unmask] writes:

Thanks for the link.  That review is, for the most part, rubbish.  For
example, in defense of the "calorie is a calorie" thesis Kolata cites the
Hirsch studies from the 1950s and 1960s, but fails to mention body
composition.  Although most of my painstakingly collected reprints were
destroyed by office flooding not so long ago, I'm pretty sure I recall
that *fat* loss was not independent of macronutrient composition. 
Numerous other studies (such as Charlotte Young's, in about 1970, which
Taubes mentions) have shown that the amount of lean tissue lost is
directly proportional to the percentage of carbohydrate eaten.  Moreover,
Kolata doesn't address the issue of the caloric threshold at which weight
loss takes place, which apparently depends upon diet composition.  Again,
my papers are all gone, but I recall studies that show that weight loss
occurs, albeit slowly, at higher caloric intake, on lowcarb diets.

The most telling sentence in the review is "If low-carbohydrate diets are
so wonderful, why is anyone fat? Most people who struggle with their
weight have tried these diets and nearly all have regained everything they
lost, as they do with other diets. What is the problem?"  Only a
knucklehead would write a sentence like that.  The answer is simple,
lowcarb diets are wonderful but nobody ever said they are easy to follow. 
They're not, especially in a culture that misses no opportunity to put
sugars and starches in front of you.  Dieting is psychologically
difficult, regardless of the diet followed.

Todd Moody
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I agree with Todd.  I bought Taubes' book and feel it was one of the best 
investments for my health book library.  His research is meticulous and my view 
is that Kolata simply did not read the book. She may have skimmed a few parts 
-- but did not read it.  Dr. Michael Eades' blog addresses Kolata's purported 
"review."  Also, she has written her own "diet" book plus another about 
exercise.  Hardly an unbiased reviewer...I think the best way to judge Taubes' book 
is to simply read it and decide for one's self.  



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