Active Low-Carber Forums - View Single Post - The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes

So much to appreciate in Stephan's post. Like this;
Stephan;

Quote:

During the course of his argument, Taubes uses sleight of hand to portray the views of researchers as more favorable to his ideas than they really are. For example, in chapter 9 he argues that obesity and physical inactivity are not the real causes of insulin resistance, rather sugar causes both insulin resistance and obesity. To support his theory, he invokes the work of Stanford endocrinologist Gerald Reaven, claiming that he “was bringing back the notion that carbohydrates were bad”. This seemed mighty fishy to me, so I looked up what Reaven actually thinks. Here’s a quote from a review paper he wrote (emphasis mine) (32):

Reaven's paper;

Quote:

Since being overweight/obese and sedentary decreases insulin sensitivity, it is not surprising that the prevalence of the manifestations of the [insulin resistance syndrome] is increasing at a rapid rate. From a dietary standpoint, there are two approaches to attenuating the manifestations of the [insulin resistance syndrome]: (a) weight loss to enhance insulin sensitivity in those overweight/obese individuals who are insulin resistant/hyperinsulinemic; and (b) changes in macronutrient content of diets to avoid the adverse effects of the compensatory hyperinsulinemia [i.e., replacing carbohydrate with unsaturated fat- SG].

How exactly is saying that carbohydrate being replaced by fat (albeit unsaturated) not saying that "carbohydrates were bad?" Reaven was at the very least suggesting that replacing fat with carbohydrate might have been a step in the wrong direction.

Here's a quote from an interview with Reaven;

Quote:

The more controversial question is, if you are not loosing weight, what should be the macronutrient
content of your diet. The evidence clearly suggests that saturated fat intake should be limited to
reduce LDL cholesterol. The problem is, what do you add to the diet to replace the saturated fat, if the
person is not gaining weight. Up to now, advice has been to replace the saturated fat with
carbohydrate. If a person is insulin sensitive, this advice is acceptable and there are no adverse
effects. However, if the person is insulin resistant, increased amounts of insulin are already being
secreted throughout the day in response to food intake. A diet with more carbohydrates will worsen
the manifestations. It will raise triglycerides, insulin levels and postprandial lipemia, and small dense
LDL will appear

"carbohydrates will worsen the manifestations." Maybe Reaven never did say that carbohydrates were "bad" again. We seem to have gone from bad to worsen.

http://www.cacpr.ca/information_for.../0009Reaven.pdf