Simplistic arguments that “Carbs make you fat!” or “Calories make you fat!” or “Red meat makes you fat!” or “Sugar makes you fat!” do not fully capture the complexity of human obesity. The hormonal obesity theory provides a framework for understanding the interaction of disease. All foods stimulate insulin, thus all foods could be fattening—and that’s where the calorie confusion emerges. Since all foods could be fattening, we imagined that all foods could be measured in a common unit: the calorie. But the calorie was the wrong unit. Calories do not cause obesity. Instead, insulin is
...more
