Obesity and 'The Big Fat Surprise.'

           As a Family Doc with a special interest in nutrition and obesity for many years and a considerable amount  of experience in running an Obesity Clinic and treating patients on an individual basis for being overweight and/or obese, I viewed with interest the recent publication of a new book entitled
"The  Big Fat Surprise - Why butter, milk and cheese belong in a healthy diet." by Nina Teicholz.    
            There are literally dozens of  books on  the shelves full of magical  ways to lose weight,  the very plethora proving their lack of significant success.  The success that is achieved is largely due to  the only really valid equation in weight loss - take in more calories than  you burn and you gain weight, take in less and you lose weight.  Approximately 3,500 calories is equal to a pound of fat (although there is some dispute as to how accurate this figure actually is.).
            What is particularly unusual about this book (and I  have only read a review of it so far) is that it attributes weight gain to fruits, vegetables and other carbohydrates and recommends a diet rich  in meat animal fats and dairy products. It challenges the whole idea of animal fats being bad for you and indeed suggests that they are good for you,- at least better than plant or unsaturated ones.  It also seems to deny the entire lipid-heart disease association.  I have read many "magic bullet" books over the years and have found that they all work to a greater or lesser extent for weight loss, if rigidly adhered to, but that is almost certainly related to the fact that they  result in a lower calorie intake and encourage an exercise program.
            This certainly seems to open up a can of worms with regard to what a few years ago was regarded as settled.   The current scorn for experience in actually treating obese patients with some degree of success in unfortunate.   Success in  treating the obese, sedentary and sometimes  high risk patients in a general practice in  the field has a lot to do with motivation and the desire to maintain a healthy body weight and I think very little to do with the equivocal interpretation of the statistics of most of the esoteric studies Ms Teicholz's goes on at length about.  Enough said, I must read the book carefully before I say more.
             Perhaps we need a book entitled ' the commonsense approach to weight loss and good health' .  Unfortunately commonsense is so uncommon these days that it may not be possible to find enough of it to write a book! 
           Obesity, continues to be a major health risk so I will be visiting this topic on a regular basis in the future.