When I first heard about the book Fat: It's Not What You Think I was a little skeptical. To begin with, most of us have negative associations with fat. It's unhealthy to consume fat and it's unhealthy to be fat; that's what I've always believed. Anyone trying to tell me otherwise had better have some substantial and convincing research to back up her claims. When I read that the author, Connie Leas, does not have a background in healthcare or nutrition, I was even more doubtful.
Leas surprised me. Her book is thoroughly researched with ample resource materials for readers' reference. As simple as Leas makes the world of fats for readers, she is still clear that fat and its implications for health are incredibly complex.
The book's strength is in the way it condenses a tremendous amount of research about fat into a short, accessible format. I found Leas' explanation of fat's structure, its nutritional benefits, how the body stores and uses fat, and what the different kinds of fats do, particularly enlightening. It's like someone just sat down with me and explained it all in one afternoon!
That said, the book's simplicity is also its shortcoming; Leas sometimes jumps to conclusions that are not necessarily supported by the research she cites. For example, she describes two school food reform programs that were not successful in reducing the rates of obesity among students. According to Leas, "The obvious conclusion from both these studies... is that weight is largely genetically determined."
Not so fast! The failure of these programs does not necessarily prove that our weight is mostly determined by our genes, and the outcomes are surely attributable to a number of possible factors, like the children's home life. I think if we sat down with the researchers they would have a bit more to say about these studies.
The point of Fat, as indicated by the title, is to debunk a lot of the accepted notions we have about fat and how our bodies use it. For example, according to the research Leas examined, cholesterol does not cause heart disease.
Does Leas interpret the data correctly? I think she makes a good-faith effort, but I also think she has her own biases and could have benefited from some more rigorous editing.
Like Nina Planck in her book, Real Food, Leas' underlying philosophy is that we do our bodies most harm not by eating saturated fat but by eating processed foods. It is the trans fats and refined carbohydrates that cause health problems. Here I definitely agree with her. But I wish she'd acknowledged how calorie-dense fats can be. However much we benefit from triglycerides, and however differently we metabolize them than other foods, we still have to do something with all those calories or we'll end up storing them on our backsides (or bellies).
Overall, Fat is a provocative introduction to the subject that does a good job of distilling a lot of research into an easily-digestible (ahem!) form. I think her approach works well for the average reader. However, it is best read with a healthy dose of skepticism and in the company of other books on nutrition.
*scratches head*
where have I been? never heard of the book and it's definitely something I wanna check out---so thanks!
I ADORE MY NEW SHOES.
a post coming on them/what they feel like soon!
thanks for dropping by,
Miz.
Posted by: MizFit | July 15, 2008 at 05:46 AM