Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34264 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-29
• Released on: 2008-04-29
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. New York Times reporter Kolata may be the best writer around covering the science of health. Here she offers an eye-opening book that questions all our received wisdom about why we get fat and the health hazards of those extra pounds. In chapters equally entertaining and dismaying, Kolata (Flu) traces the history of dieting fads back to the 19th century; discusses our changing ideas about the ideal body (thinner and thinner); and, most importantly, explains how genetic and biochemical understanding has (at least among researchers) replaced the view of obesity as a lack of self-control. Most dramatic is Kolata's recounting of Jeff Friedman's groundbreaking search at Rockefeller University for the "satiety factor," a hormone he called leptin that tells our brains when we're full. The science alternates with moving chapters in which Kolata follows a group of people in a weight-loss study who are trying desperately to get thin—a quest that, as Kolata makes increasingly clear is sadly futile. In her final—and perhaps most surprising—chapter, Kolata blasts those in the obesity industry—such as Jenny Craig and academic obesity research centers—who are invested in promoting the idea that overweight is unhealthy and diet and exercise are effective despite a raft of evidence to the contrary. This book will change your thinking about weight, whether you struggle with it or not. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Gina Kolata provides comforting insights on human nature, the politics of obesity science, and the culture of appearance. She is a lively and cogent writer who has a refreshing perspective on why people diet in spite of repeated failure. Her research and observations will resonate with people who torture themselves with abusive weight ideals, risky medications, or short-lived eating restrictions. Her affirming thesis, often supported by fascinating historical observations, is that we dont have to buy cultural messages that we are failures if we dont sign up for the latest weight-loss fad. Ellen Archer sounds even-tempered and self-assured as she delivers Kolatas manifesto. Her tone of subtle indignation enhances the authors mission to reduce blind adherence to inhumane appearance ideals. T.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
*Starred Review* When New York Times science writer Kolata took an unbiased look at society's war on fatness, she found that the spoils of the conflict fatten the pockets of a multibillion-dollar dieting industry, while most ever-hopeful yet hapless dieters lose only money. Why, then, do we still repeat a mantra--"eat less and exercise more"--that has failed dieters for 2,000 years? Why, in diet study after diet study, do chubby participants consistently fail to reach their target weights? And why do the majority of dieters end up regaining most of their hard-lost weight, or regaining and then exceeding it? Following up on participants in a two-year clinical weight-loss study comparing the overall efficacies of the Atkins diet and a highly regarded low-calorie, low-fat diet opened Kolata's eyes to the plight of millions who can't seem to measure down to today's weight ideals. The experience led her to examine the millennia-old history of humanity's battle against the bulge. She interviewed several credentialed authorities, and she cites sound scientific evidence that calls in question the productiveness of common weight-loss methods. Her report reveals well-documented intelligence certain to annoy those segments of society and commerce that stubbornly cling to the ignis fatuus that all one needs to be thin is willpower. Donna Chavez
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Excellent book!
This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to be educated about what science has shown (over and over again) about the nature of obesity and the effectiveness of weight loss.

Unfortunately, it seems that most people in our culture would rather defend their myths about obesity than learn the facts.

This book literally changed my life -- for the better.

Science--What a concept!
Kolata's structures her narrative around four individuals in a randomized clinical trial comparing a low calorie diet to the Atkins diet. The enourmous dirty secret supporting the of practice of medicine, the insurance industry, the diet industry, and 40% of the populations' inflated egos is revealed--no known diet is effective after two years--diets do not work. Weight Watchers does not work. Atkins does not work. Low calorie diets do not work. Jenny Craig does not work. None of these diets do more than produce short term weight loss. In fact people who have been on them have the psychological response of people who have experienced starvation in prison camps, e.g. binging, obsession with food. Get this--those weight tables the insurance industry uses? They do not really predict longevity. The science tells an entirely different story about obesity and longevity than you hear from your doctor, insurance company, or in the popular press. For those of us who have lived the experiences that these seldom cited scientific studies confirm, it is a relief to understand our experience is not abnormal, crazy, or indicative of a deep moral failure. But, for "people like me" this book makes you realize that on your next visit to a physician you will be "treated," for the gazillionth time, based on folklore, greed, prejudice, ego, whim, arrogance, and ignorance. Hey, that's just on a doctor's visit--now let's considered business and social experiences. Sadly enough many are treated like a pariahs in our own families--even in our churches. To think we consider ourselves to have progressed beyond the magical thinking of the medievals. "Yea shall know the truth and the truth shall set yea free." I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do with these truths. But, I highly recommend the book--particularly for fat people and physicians!!! The scientific process is well explained and well documented. The resistance to accepting the findings is too. Oh my. Que lastima!

All doom and gloom
I, too, was very excited to read this book, but ultimately very disappointed. So the only conclusion that she comes to is that attempting permanent weight loss is pretty much an exercise in futility. Genetics will ultimately trump any efforts, and the obese will always be obese. Let me first say that I completely AGREE with her that diets don't work. I have been there, done that, and worn the t-shirt. But even she could have done better--the the study she uses to make her point utilizes two very unrealistic diets: the no-carb Atkins and the very low calorie, low fat LEARN diet. Talk about extremes. These are no more effective or practical to follow than any of the other fad diets that have come along throughout the last 100 years. Whatever happened to "all things in moderation"?

Telling fat people that they will never lose more than 10-15% of their body weight no matter what they do is, at best, misleading, and at worst, dangerous. She might as well tell them not to bother trying to eat healthy or exercise, to just sit on the couch and dig into the Haagen Daz, because there is no hope anyway.

-Do genetics play a major role in a person's "set point" weight? YES!!
-Is restrictive dieting doomed to fail: For 95% of us: YES!!
-Should fat people give up on losing significant weight: NO, NO, NO!!

And I do speak from experience: My mother is overweight, and my father and 3 sisters: ALL obese. I am 5'5" and 125 pounds. And I was not just "genetically blessed": at age 24, I weighed 195. I had been on every diet known to man. After gaining 3 pounds on Weight Watchers, I decided I'd never diet again. I had to completely change my mindset about food. I had to learn to truly pay attention to my appetite. I didn't change what I ate at first, just how much. I ate as soon as I noticed I was hungry (or at least ASAP), ate slowly, and stopped as soon as I noticed that little twinge of fullness. It definitely wasn't a perfect science, there were days when I wished I hadn't eaten so much and days when I wished I had eaten more. It took lots of practice. And yes, I exercised. It took a long time (5 years) for me to lose the weight, but it's stayed off, and without much effort. It was a lifestyle change, and that cannot come from ANY book.