Ze goalz: Essential Readings

So far here is my list of essential readings, I will list them in order of importance (aka, ease of reading) and then give brief summaries because I know at least a few of you won't read them (or can't).

1. The Letter on Corpulence http://www.archive.org/details/letteroncorpulen00bantrich (this is the best link I've found, the PDF version is good enough, the pamphlet is in the public domain so this is completely legal)
2. The blog, Inhuman Experiment http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.com/
3. "Adventures in Diet" by Vilhjalmur Stefansson (this is the best link for it I could find, and it's not very good...)
4. This scientific paper, published in Clinical Calorimetry in the 1930s about the aforementioned Stefansson, experimenting a one-year diet of just meat (not light reading, but very very informative).
5. Gary Taubes' blog http://www.garytaubes.com/
6. Gary Taubes' book, Why We Get Fat (can't get this for free yet, find it at your library or local bookstore and park it and read it - it's what I did)

If you are interested in the health risks or benefits of eating meat and especially fat, you must read and absorb all of these. In addition, they will improve your understanding of diabetes and diabetes treatments, and of dieting and weight loss.

I also recommend a few videos that are available on the internet, a series by the BBC called "Why Are Thin People Not Fat." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-A0iHSdcA

I also recommend Fat Head which is a movie critical of Supersize Me. In Fat Head the host loses 13 pounds in a month eating fast food, and actually generally gets healthier. The movie itself is not terribly educational, but in my case I found it to be inspirational. If you are reading my blog, you are already inspired and can skip Fat Head (the quality of the movie is a bit low, and the humor is often stupid... but it is still interesting).

So for the summaries and why they are so interesting.

1. The letter on corpulence details the trials of a fat man trying to lose weight. This is one of those rare moments when the person who is distributing this information was not an expert, was not out to make money, was not some thin healthy person telling you to do what he says because he's healthy, wasn't some college athlete who "got out of shape" then started working out and got back in shape, and was instead a man who understood the ins and outs, the emotional roller coaster, and the physical difficulties of being obese. He gives his account from beginning to end, from failed early attempts to his success on a meat-centered diet designed for the treatment of diabetes (this is mentioned in passing and not referred to by name, but this is indeed what he was speaking of). I found his story compelling despite being short. You will love the writing style if you like mine, and you will wonder why you have never heard of this, especially if you are a dieter (tbh, I'm not too surprised I've never heard of this because I've never really looked into diets before).

2. Inhuman experiment is a blog about self-experimentation for the purpose of improving one's health. His goals are different from mine but I don't mind. Unlike many people who experiment with things like this, this guy isn't out to sell anything. This guy examines scientific evidence and tries to avoid anything he can that will muddy up the info with preconceived notions. The reason you need to read this blog is that it will open your eyes to the scientific evidence out there that vegetarians will insist doesn't exist -- studies showing correlations between eating meat and being healthier among other things. It will also hopefully prove to you that a meat diet isn't insane (mine might no be so god at that...). This is one of the few sites out there that isn't pioneered by a madman who thinks his diet cured his BO.

3. Adventures in Diet will open your eyes to the fact that meat diets are not at all new, and are likely even more natural than the diets we eat today (excuse the use of natural, my intention is just to point out that our diet is forced rather than coming naturally). It's the story of a man who lives with the Inuit for several years on and off, and eats their diet of mostly fish, seals, and caribou. His health doesn't deteriorate, he doesn't get constipated, and he learns to like boiled aged fish. It will hopefully answer the question of why fat tends to be something we desire to eat, and hopefully show you that it is not bad for you. It will also show you that adapting to a diet is possible even if one must eat despised foods, as tastes can be changed. It is also very brief, and fairly easy to read. Despite the cheesiness of the site it is found on, it is a legitimate story (you can find it on other sites if you need to cross-reference it). I find the story interesting,, and if you're like me it will make you hungry for scientific evidence...

4. This study examines the results of eating an all-meat diet for an entire year. The two men in the study experience almost no adverse effects. It also goes in-depth into some things a bit over my head, such as the kidney function involved (the conclusion still makes sense - this wasn't bad for the kidneys). This study will prove to you that a year on meat alone will not cause anything near death, and will likely only improve your health. You will wonder what truly causes scurvy, and start to wonder if you could ever eat enough fat to meet the guidelines of this study. If you try this, you'll probably lose weight. You'll wonder about the importance of fiber, and water-soluble vitamins. You will consider if you could ever eat cow's kidneys and lots of other gross stuff. It's not light reading but it's not really long, and it's the largest source of scientific support for my diet. It will make you wonder why there aren't more like it.

5 and 6. Taubes' blog will be the substitute for his book if you can't find it. Among other things, he gives the results of his blood test (his diet is similar to mine). He tends to be long-winded; many of his posts are longer than the letter on corpulence. Taubes will make you want to read Atkins, but he's less "try my diet" and more critical of nutritionists and scientists. He counters the conventional notion of laziness and overeating causing fatness, and suggests that fatness causes laziness and overeating. He asserts that hormones and genetics cause fatness, which in turn causes the overeating and laziness. Traditional diet and workout plans, he says, are not sufficient for the majority of overweight people to lose weight for the long term. Instead, he suggests people ought to reduce the foods that raise insulin levels in order to lose fat. Interestingly, he also exposes the prejudices normal people (especially thin, healthy nutritionists and doctors) have against the obese, and the difficulties they face, especially when they are constantly told they are fat, lazy, stupid gluttons.

Why are thin people not fat details attempts to make naturally thin people fat by making them eat twice as much as usual. All of the people in the study gain weight (not a huge amount). All of them lose all of the weight they gained without exercising or dieting. It's an interesting look at how little control we actually have over our weight.

Whew, that was longer than expected! Enjoy!