The Diet Delusion

Few topics are more widely discussed than what we should eat to stay healthy. And there are few topics where the evidence is so lacking in quality. It is also a topic that is besieged by gurus, cranks, and supplement hucksters. Gary Taubes is a journalist—but he is quite an exceptional journalist. His book The Diet Delusion is more complete and more scholarly than most professional scientists could manage.

Obesity sounds simple. If you are fat it is because you eat too much or exercise too little, right? Well, no, it’s not as simple as that. For a start, it has been shown time and time again that low fat …