4 Research-Backed Ways This Science Journalist Shed Weight When Nothing Else Worked

Gary Taubes, award-winning science journalist and author of The Case for Keto, is fed up with conventional nutrition advice. On his own weight loss journey, he struggled for years and found mainstream dietary recommendations (read: eat less, exercise more) to be all but futile. 

"One of the problems is we've been getting a 'lean and healthy' person perspective on what we have to do to correct our health and our weight," he shares on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. "And that's the wrong perspective because what works for them doesn't work for people who are struggling with their weight." 

"For those of us who gain weight easily, we have to keep our insulin low," he says. In fact, according to Taubes, lowering insulin is the key to shedding pounds—even more important than calorie restriction. "When I was [researching] my first book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, I had the opportunity to interview all these researchers who did the research on fat metabolism," he explains. "I would say, 'So what makes a fat cell fat?' Their answer was 'Insulin.' And then, 'What makes a human fat?' Their answer was 'Eat too much.' And I would tell them that when you're talking about fat cells, it's about insulin1. Why aren't they the same?" 

So, which foods raise insulin? Well, those are your refined sugars and carbohydrates. "Sugars and highly refined, high glycemic index carbohydrates are a mistake," he notes. "If anything causes the chronic diseases that beset us, heart disease, it's sugar first and refined grains second. I would avoid those if I wanted to be as healthy as I could." 

Of course, that means he nixed the white bread and pasta. However, when he was trying to lose stubborn weight, he lowered other types of carbs, like sweet potatoes and beans, and legumes. "[Sweet potatoes] may be fine for some people, but they're not fine for me, and if I were trying to lose a significant amount of weight, I wouldn't include them in the diet," he explains. "They still have a significant amount of carbohydrates, and they're easy to overeat."

We've already touched on how Taubes eliminated refined sugar from his diet and went keto. Which raises the question: What about all those keto-friendly sweeteners, like monk fruit, allulose, and the like? While Taubes generally regards those sweeteners as A-OK (you're getting a fraction of the amount of sugar), he actually decided to nix them as well. 

"I tried it as an experiment four years ago," he shares. "I always thought it'd be difficult to do." However, he committed to the task for three days—that's it!—and found that after a short time period, the fast became easier and easier to accomplish. "At the end of three days, I wasn't hungry anymore. And I lost a dozen pounds over the course of about three or four months that I never thought I really had to lose. I thought I was at a healthy weight, and then I got to a healthier weight," he recounts. 

Of course, the same time-restricted eating plan doesn't work for everyone (or fasting at all, for that matter), so at the end of the day, it's important to find the right eating plan for you. But if you'd like to try your hand at intermittent fasting, by all means.