Josh Hillman
Staff Writer
This Thanksgiving, you can trim the fat off your body without trimming the fat off your turkey. New York Times’ bestselling author, Gary Taubes did the research and says that fat is not bad.
Taubes earned a degree in applied physics from Harvard in 1977. He then went on to earn two more degrees: one from Stanford for aerospace engineering in 1978 and another from Colombia for journalism in 1981.
During his time as a student of science, he realized how easy it was to make mistakes. This realization, combined with his interest in public health, led him to question what truth there was regarding studies on fat.
Taubes says that losing weight is not about burning more calories than you eat, it’s about controlling what type of calories you eat.
His studies led him to find that sugars and carbs are the problem, not fat. So instead of limiting the turkey and gravy this November, Taubes says you should be limiting the stuffing and pie.
Throughout his writing career, the National Association of Writers has recognized Taubes three times by awarding him the science and society award. He also received an MIT knight science journalism fellowship.
“It would be hard for me to explain how important his research is to the world of nutrition,” said Richard Wood, professor at Springfield College. “If we have been given wrong information for the past 30 years, that has affected every food exposure we had in that time.”
After years of research, Taubes recorded and explained his findings in multiple books. These include a New York Times best seller, “Good Calories vs. Bad Calories.”
“A lot of Gary’s critics are unaware of the breadth and depth of the research he has done,” Wood said. “If someone discounts his research because he is ‘just a journalist,’ they are missing the boat.”
Taubes will be in Judd Gymnasium on Nov. 12, to talk about his most recently published book, “Why We Get Fat.” Come to the free presentation at 7 p.m. to hear the truth in what he found.