[ExI] Good Calories, Bad Calories

[Dave Sill]

On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 12:54 AM, Harvey Newstrom
<mail at harveynewstrom.com> wrote:
> Any diet that lowers total calories will work.

If you define "work" as "cause weight loss", yes. But I think there's
a lot more to a healthy, satisfying diet than merely the number of
calories consumed per day. I haven't read "Good Calories, Bad
Calories", but I'd guess that Taubes' point is that even though two
servings of different foods might have the same number of calories,
one might be more beneficial to the body than the other, and one might
even be outright harmful. Macronutrients matter. A high carb
diet--even a "low" glycemic one--is going to tax the insulin system
much more than a low carb diet.

> I fully
> agree that someone can eat a high fat diet and lose weight, as long as
> they consume fewer calories.  Now try to get a Taubes follower or Paleo
> dieter to agree that someone can lose weight on a high carb diet by the
> same token.

I'm not a Taubes follower or a Paleo dieter--I consider myself a
primal lifestyler--but I certainly agree that people can lose weight
on a high carb diet. I just don't think it's particularly healthy,
and, from my own experience, it's a lot harder than losing weight on a
low carb diet.

-Dave