New in Paperback

http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1238612.html

Has this not been available in paperback for some time?
I got a PB version several months ago.

On a related point does anyone know how many copies have been sold worldwide since Sept 2007.
I still see it on the shelves in every major bookstore I visit. I have recommended it frequently and have passed on copies to family members.

Last question, is there a case for a "Taubes Lite" version which rings all the main bells but is easier to read for the more casual reader. This could refer readers to the long version for more detailed treatment and references.

I think books are printed in paperback in Great Britain long before they come out in paperback in the US. (I only say that because my family and I were in a bookstore in Heathrow airport last summer and my daughters were all excited to find one of the Twilight books in paperback, that's only available in hardcover over here.)

A decent Taubes Lite is the Epilogue within the book.

I think it depends on the publisher. The Diet Delusion is due to be released in paperback 1st January O9 £8.44
Hardback version of the same book now costs £11.69

Hearing Gary Taubes speak and reading his book were what got me into LC in the first place. Highly recommended for anyone who desires a better understanding of the biological impact of a high carb diet. It is a little dense due to the massive amount of research, though I have a scientific background so that was ok with me. Now that's its in paperback I may buy more copies for friends and family--so far I'd purchased two for other people.

--Melissa

That's a really good way of putting it. My friend had a hard time reading it, so I told her to just read the epilogue, the body of the book is simply the "proof".

I hope that a ton of people buy the paperback & Taubes gets rich. I'm somehow nervous that he wont be rewarded for all that work, and we desperately need journalists like him.

I expected more of a backlash from the American Heart Association, Diabetes Assocation, etc.

Perhaps they think its better to just ignore the scientific evidence and hope that not too many people read the book.

It was a fascinating book and I re-read it a little at a time.

I figured if the book said what it said, but in a way that the "mass general public" could easily understand it, there'd be actual en-masse attacks on FDA/AMA/ADA headquarters or something LOL. Fortunately for them, only a fraction of the population is educated well enough to read it, and of those, it takes so long to read that you have plenty of time to vent all that rage as you go along.

I echo what Melissa has just said above.
I'm immensely grateful to Taubes for taking so much trouble to explain in detail about fat accumulation and the role of insulin.

But I think that he may have oversimplified the story. There is virtually no mention of the role of leptin /leptin resistance and it's relationship with insulin/insulin resistance, similarly no mention of the fact that Vitamin D lowers Insulin Resistance and low vitamin d status predicts insulin resistance.
There is a similar omission of the role of magnesium and insulin resistance. and the role of omega 3 in insulin resistance.
and what about Green Tea and insulin resistance.
Of course I was fat and getting fatter despite the fact I had corrected my D3, OMEGA 3, status and was drinking Green Tea. So after listening to Taubes, reading the book and cutting carbs I also (Because of Dr McCleary) raised my magnesium status and as you know the weight dropped off without any extra exercise. While Taubes does rightly have a lot to say about fructose I think there is going to be a lot more on the topic.
I think it would also be interesting to see what got cut out of the book by the editor.

I remember you mentioning in a post something about your "underlying condition". I have no idea what it is, but I'm wondering if you've looked up anything about "systemic enzyme therapy" yet in your travels on the web. In a quest to get rid of a spot of inflammation that I had after getting an infected cut, I got hold of the product "Wobenzym", which is available here in Germany and also in the USA. Out of curiosity, I began to surf around and have discovered that it has been used with considerable success with a lot of conditions where inflammation is involved, or where the immune system is compromised.

I don't know whether inflammation or a compromised immune system is relevant to your underlying condition, but if it is, then you might want to check out this field of alternative medicine. So far, I have found all the stuff I have read to be absolutely fascinating!

amanda

There are a lot of things Taubes did not cover -- and the story went that the book was a lot longer and it wasn't even done, and the publisher insisted on some sanity. In reality I'd love to see Gary write a few books on interrelated subjects and other topics but he would probably starve if he did, since the percentage of the world seriously interested in nutrition science seems very small.

There is just only so much you can put in one book. He covered the fat issue and the carbohydrate issue wonderfully. He just barely touched on exercise but not really. There are other books that could be written on many other important topics in the overall question. But that would be ANOTHER many-hundreds-of-dense-pages effort, I'm sure!

One of the ways to try to kill a counter idea is to just ignore it.

If I were the AHA, I would take the "ignore it" approach because almost anything else you do draws attention to the idea, and stirs up interest in understanding the conflict. That means, you help expose your own weaknesses by trying to defend yourself or attacking your accuser.

Most of the "Anti-Cholesterol" and "Anti-Statin" books for the public are treated the same way.

As are the few books which discuss the estimated 100,000 deaths per year attributed to medical mistakes.

"Be quiet, and let it die down."

The book is largely about the mistaken obsession on fat on weight and health and/or how fiber was going to make processed foods "healthy". And other grossly wrong misrepresentations of "science" and diet to the general public.

There are a great many things that affect health and weight, the book was NOT the vehicle to try to comprehensively list them all.

Some people appear to want a book that does that.

Taubes mentioned in an interview that he is hoping to do a follow up book (after the paperback runs its course) that will be shorter, but interest from his publisher will depend on the success of GCBC.