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A review by ninakinsmn
Secrets From the Food Lab by Traci Mann
4.0
A fascinating read. I highly recommend it. The most interesting tidbit for me was the information from twin studies indicating that our genes account for 70% of the variation in our weight. That's not much less than the amount our genes contribute to our height (80%) yet you would never hear people say that someone "had really let herself go" because she was 6 feet tall.
We greatly overestimate how much control people have over what they weigh and, perhaps more importantly, how much their weight actually matters to their health. According to the author, the research into the health impacts of obesity show that there is almost no difference between the long-term health outcomes of "normal weight" individuals and those who are overweight or obese, except for the relatively rare individuals in the Class 3 obesity category (BMI of 40 or more). In fact, for certain diseases, there is a higher risk of death for those who are underweight.
This does not mean that the author advocates abandoning all efforts to improve our health through nutrition and exercise. On the contrary, much of the book concerns strategies for doing just that. Her bigger point is that diets do not work (i.e. the weight we lose inevitably comes back, often with interest) and that we should focus on keeping our weights towards the low end of our genetically determined set-weight range rather than aiming for the unrealistically low weight that we are societally conditioned to think is more healthy and attractive. In the long run, dieting stresses our metabolisms and sometimes causes more health problems than it fixes.
My favorite quote from the book: "You know what I find the most infuriating about this situation? People will blame the weight regain on your self- control, even though you are probably eating less food than they are! To maintain your new weight, you have to fight evolution. You have to fight biology. You have to fight your brain. You have to fight your metabolism. These are the ways your body tries to protect you from starvation, and it is not a fair fight."
We greatly overestimate how much control people have over what they weigh and, perhaps more importantly, how much their weight actually matters to their health. According to the author, the research into the health impacts of obesity show that there is almost no difference between the long-term health outcomes of "normal weight" individuals and those who are overweight or obese, except for the relatively rare individuals in the Class 3 obesity category (BMI of 40 or more). In fact, for certain diseases, there is a higher risk of death for those who are underweight.
This does not mean that the author advocates abandoning all efforts to improve our health through nutrition and exercise. On the contrary, much of the book concerns strategies for doing just that. Her bigger point is that diets do not work (i.e. the weight we lose inevitably comes back, often with interest) and that we should focus on keeping our weights towards the low end of our genetically determined set-weight range rather than aiming for the unrealistically low weight that we are societally conditioned to think is more healthy and attractive. In the long run, dieting stresses our metabolisms and sometimes causes more health problems than it fixes.
My favorite quote from the book: "You know what I find the most infuriating about this situation? People will blame the weight regain on your self- control, even though you are probably eating less food than they are! To maintain your new weight, you have to fight evolution. You have to fight biology. You have to fight your brain. You have to fight your metabolism. These are the ways your body tries to protect you from starvation, and it is not a fair fight."