Comments on The Fat Summit, Day 2

Published 1.28.2016; Updated 2.1.2016
So this is being written and published a day late, but that's how life goes sometimes. Mark Hyman is hosting The Fat Summit as part of his effort to promote his "Pegan" diet, which is a mash up of vegan and paleo. The two presentations I bothered with on Day 2 was Gary Taubes and David Ludwig. These aren't notes on what was said so much as it's my commentary while listening.

The main purpose of the summit it to sell Hyman's new book: Eat Fat, Get Thin: Why the Fat We Eat Is the Key to Sustained Weight Loss and Vibrant Health

Gary Taubes

• It took 51 minutes, but Hyman finally brought up the Hall study, which Taubes immediately dismisses as too short and asking the wrong questions.

• Just before the 56 minute mark, Taubes admits that if people eat in a way that lowers calorie intake, they lose weight.
• When Hyman asked when NuSi will be publishing its results, Taubes made a disturbing comment: He didn't know when the study would be published because “There are issues with the study, there are issues with the paper…” Is this the "tell" that NuSi will not publish results that don't support Taubes' preconceived hypothesis.
• Taubes essentially gives the same spiel every time he speaks. He's writing a new book about diabetes, and all I can say is that Roy Taylor' research had better be part of it.

• He call himself an "expert on bad science," which actually made me laugh out loud.
• Taubes states as fact that, "We were all on low fat diets," but I don't think that's true. I and my family never were. Of course, we never ate a ton of processed foods either. So many of these health issues can be avoided simply by mostly avoiding processed foods.
• Hyman states that "sweet fat" (aka fat + sugar) is not good. But Taubes, only worries about the sugar. Don’t cut the fat, just the sugar.
• I remain amazed that Taubes seems stuck on research done in the first half of the 20th century, as though science hasn't advanced since then.
• Interesting that he admits that NuSi is biased.

David Ludwig MD

• Ludwig is still clinging to his glycemic index, and has a new book out. This link has an excerpt. Stephan Guyenet reviewed it. Ludwig responded. I think Guyenet is correct in his critiques.
• The energy balance works just fine. People like Ludwig over complicate the issue to make money. People overeat for a LOT of reasons—many of which have NOTHING to do with hunger.
• This entire presentation is based on a misrepresentation of the energy balance.
• The fact that insulin is needed to store calories does NOT mean that insulin makes you fat. If there is no excess calories to be stored, then the insulin doesn’t have anything to store.
• Ludwig does at least acknowledge that it might not be that fat is so great— it might simply be replacing refined carbs. In other words, replacing refined carbs with unrefined (low glycemic carbs in Ludwig-speak) might work just as well or better.
• The problem is that we didn’t eat the correct carbs IF we cut fat— which most people did not.
• Ludwig also admits that some people thrive on low fat diets. High fat diets are necessary for all.
• I’ll give Ludwig this, he is TRYING to be an actual scientist. He is not biting at Hyman’s bait to overstate what he’s saying.
• And then he goes on about how when you eat real food for a while then processed foods taste differently. But that’ has nothing to do with fat, it has to do with eating REAL food. Everything here has to be int he frame of high fat, but really what he’s talking about it cooking food from ingredients have one name or ingredient.

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