The Obesity Epidemic — Is Medicine Scientific?

An anonymous reader writes "An award-winning science author, Gary Taubes, has written a book that pans the medical community's treatment of the obesity epidemic. What is interesting is that it looks like the medical community is behaving in a very unscientific manner. Taubes points out that the current medical orthodoxy — that consuming fat makes you fat and exercise makes you thin — has no basis in research. In fact, all the available research points in quite another, and more traditional, direction. Here's the (excellent) podcast of an interview with Taubes on CBC's 'Quirks and Quarks.' So, has medicine become a non-science? Is it mostly a non-science? Somewhat?"

Comments

Re:Ugh...

[Anonymous Coward]

"What makes you fat are high glycemic carbohydrates, like potatoe products and sugars."

No.

And please shut the fuck up.

What makes you fat is consistently eating more calories than you use.

Lemmy tell ya where the real bullshit is!

[Paracelcus]

The so called "body mass index" is the real bullshit, you're obese if you don't match the ridiculous values on the "BMI". I'm getting fed up trying to explain to MDs that 6'4" tall and 37" wide at the shoulders with a 30" inseam and a 40" waist and 54" chest is not obese at 310lbs! And that by bringing in one of their colleagues who is close to my hight and letting me stand behind them just to illustrate the stupidity of their position.