As it’s nearly 2011, anyone pushing a consumer book these days pretty much has to blog and do Twitter, and Gary Taubes is therefore jumping in here and here.
His new book, Why We Get Fat, is being released on December 28th; it’s the consumer-friendly version of his must-read Good Calories, Bad Calories.
Whatever the reason, I’m psyched … and I’m keeping my fingers crossed he really jumps into the social media arena rather than doing the pro-forma book tour version.
[Also see: Taubes' Big Fat Lies.]
Weight Maven is written by Beth Mazur. Beth believes that obesity is more symptom than cause and that the real problem is our Western diet -- especially sugar, refined grains, and industrial oils. Beth writes about nutrition, ancestral health, & food policy. And cats! 
Hi Beth,
Much as I admire Gary’s accomplishments, I wish he were more interested in the omega-6 problem. I encourage you to investigate the matter for yourself. Just Google “1 of 4 Bill Lands” and “omega-6 obesity” and “omega-6 diabetes” and “omega-6 research news” to get started.
I see you’re aware of the “industrial oils” problem. Lots of people are aware. Only a handful seem to fully appreciate the extent of the damage to the public health. Here’s an example of someone who does: http://www.omega3sealoil.com/Chapter3_1.html
I’m interested to see if his view has widened since GCBC. As I comment in my Big Fat Lies post (see link at right), Taubes’ case is weakened by not addressing cultures that do fine on high carb diets. I hear via the grapevine that he may be focusing more on fructose, but you’re certainly right that omega-6 should play a bigger part of the discussion — especially given it’s role in health aside from obesity.
BTW, I actually emailed Bill Lands last March (thought I blogged it here, but didn’t). It occurred to me that stored fat is part PUFA, and so those of us trying to lose weight (who presumably got overweight eating lots of veggie oils) have to deal with omega-6 as weight is lost.
Lands replied that my interpretation matched his. He noted that a “60 kg person with 30% body weight as fat that was 15% linoleate would have 3,000,000 milligrams of omega-6 in adipose that steadily ‘feeds’ all the other tissues for years - - - even if no further omega-6 fat was eaten.”
Wow.
Wow is right.
There aren’t many who fully appreciate the magnitude of the omega-6 problem. Yesterday after commenting on your blog I found an excellent website maintained by Canadian physician, businessman, and entrepreneur Cosmas Ho by Googling “omega-6 diabetes.” He articulates the problem as well as anyone. Here’s what he says:
“Degenerative diseases that involve fats prematurely kill over two thirds of the people currently living in affluent, industrialized nations. 68% of people die from just three conditions that involve fatty degeneration: Cardiovascular disease (43.8%), Cancer (22.4%), and Diabetes (1.8%). These deaths are the result of eating habits based on ignorance and misconceptions. Since we are natural biological organisms, we must attain, maintain and regain good health through natural approaches - through foods and lifestyles in keeping with the biological needs that nature genetically built into us. If we get the right kind of fats in the right amounts and balances, and prepare them using the right methods, they build our health and keep us healthy…Throughout human history mankind has ingested an approximate equal proportion (1/1 ratio) of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids. The Omega 6 and 3 are two of the forty-nine known essential nutrients. As essential nutrients they cannot be synthesized by the body, but must be ingested directly in foods or in the form of dietary supplements. The relationship of equivalence between the two Omegas is critical because they self – check each other in a delicate balance to regulate thousands of metabolic functions through prostaglandin pathways. Nearly every biologic function is somehow interconnected with the delicate balance between Omega 6 and Omega 3. Omega 3’s are intimately involved in the control of inflammation, cardiovascular health, myelin sheath development, allergic reactivity, immune response, hormone modulation, IQ, and behavior. A seemingly minor, yet major change in Omega balance dictated by dietary ingestion has absolute deleterious health effects. The rapid change in dietary fat ingestion within only the last 50 - 100 years has bewildered human biophysiology created to function optimally on equal proportions of dietary omegas…A deficiency of Omega 3 is positively correlated with over 50 diseases and illnesses including the dreaded diseases of Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Stroke, and Arthritis. The so-called western degenerative diseases have risen in a near perfect linear fashion with the elimination of Omega 3, and the over-provision of Omega 6 in the food chain. In many regards saturated fats may have been ruled guilty by association as the genesis of cardiovascular disease appears to be more closely related to a rise in vegetable oil ingestation than it does to saturated fat.”
Google: omega3sealoil.com to see this in context. There’s a lot more material on Dr. Ho’s website.
Gary Taubes has accomplished a lot in a relatively short time but I feel his focus is too narrow to see the whole picture. Having said that, it took me more than 30 years of studying nutritional issues and controversies to home in the omega-6 problem. And I have Dr. Lands to thank. I was consuming peanut butter sandwiches almost daily for decades, slowly doing myself in. Do you recall that remark Dr. Lands made about peanuts and peanut butter in his 37 minute lecture about omega-6 and cardiovascular disease? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgU3cNppzO0
David, I think many folks’ focus is too narrow — each of the many culprits are bad enough on their own so I guess that’s somewhat understandable. I think this is like the blind men and the elephant!