Thank you George Blackburn!!!!!
Blackburn is the idiot. He's an idiot because he doesn't pay attention. He infers conflict where there is none due, most likely, to bias. And/or he has some agenda where conflict benefits him.
Blackburn says: “The problem is people’s inability to know how many calories they burn and eat,’’ said Dr. George Blackburn, "
Taubes says: "It’s all about hunger, he says. Eating carbohydrates drives up the hormone insulin — which rapidly clears glucose (the component of all carbs) from the blood and shuttles it into fat cells. Blood sugar levels drop and we get hungry again, making it easy to overeat.
The only difference between those two is that Blackburn wants us to count calories and stop feeding when we reach our measured limit and Taubes says we will naturally stop eating at our limit if we eat food that satisfies our hunger.
Some people are predisposed to line up sides and fight. Others are predisposed to be attentive to the various arguments and understand similarities and differences. It doesn't have to be win-lose.
Blackburn's scheme requires will power, fighting against one's body. Taubes's scheme is easier because the body isn't pulling so hard against you. Pragmatically, if the objective is losing weight, then the choice is between limiting one's calories, that is, not overeating, the hard way or the easy way.
I follow a lot of blogs that have various points of view. You can find personal stories of people who have lost tons by going vegan or going Adkins or paleo or whatever. They all feel better, have better numbers, and are healthier. They believe that they've been born again. It's the weight loss that does it. There may or may not be greater long-term health benefits in one macronutrient composition over another but losing weight, however one does it, is a very good thing. True believers will extol one method and damn all others. Sensible people focus on results. Is the objective to promote some nutrition religion or to get the weight off? |
