Weight Loss - Could eating seasonally be the answer?

January 25, 2009 by Curt Siters

“A vitally important book, destined to change the way we think about food.” — Michael Pollan, author of "In Defense of Food"

“A very important book.” — Dr. Andrew Weil

“A brave and bold science journalist . . . Taubes does not bow to the current fashion for narrative nonfiction, instead building his argument case by case . . . much of what Taubes relates will be eye-opening.” -The New York Times Book Review

With reviews like those above you would be hard pressed to not think about reading a book. The book in question is "Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health" by Gary Taubes.

In the book he tells us:

For decades we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet despite this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. He argues that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates, like white flour, easily digested starches, and sugars, and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number. He shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.

Gary Taubes is a contributing correspondent for Science magazine and a contributing editor at Technology Review. He has written about science, medicine, and health for Science, Discover, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Fortune, Forbes, and GQ. His articles have appeared in The Best American Science Writing three times. He has won three Science-in-Society Journalism Awards given by the National Association of Science Writers--the only print journalist so recognized--as well as awards from the American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society. His book Bad Science: The Short Life and Weird Times of Cold Fusion was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. He was educated at Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia.

To me it makes sense. Our ancestors were basically eaters of opportunity meaning they ate what the seasons provided. They didn't have means for long term storage of foods that would spoil quickly and couldn't import foods from the other side of the world so they had to eat what was available. That included eating a lot of protein and fats in the form of meats and nuts during late fall and winter.

When the Europeans made it into Africa, America and Australia where the native populations lived closer to the Earth and ate seasonally they almost always noted that the natives were slim, trim and fit. Looking at those people today we see an increase in weight, malnourishment and deadly disease.

I am not convinced this is the total answer but I believe it is an important part it.

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Curt Siters is an Independent Associate for Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. He is also aYoung Living Essential Oils Independent distributor and publishes articles on YourWebReference and at TheVeryEssence. He also does web work such as website design, website maintenance and SEO for websites.

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