How the Government Makes You Fat: Gary Taubes on Obesity, Carbs, and Bad Science
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Google"The government can come along and, with all the best intentions, cause enormous problems" says Gary Taubes, a science writer and author most recently of Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It .
Reason.tv's Zach Weissmueller talked with Taubes about his controversial work in the world of nutrition and epidemiology, including Taubes' hypothesis that carbohydrates, not dietary fat, overeating, or lack of physcial activity, are the primary factor causing obesity. Other topics include the inability of governments and large informational institutions such as the American Heart Association to adapt to new information, the mess of bad legislation and bad science that Taubes believes led to America's obesity problem, and why many libertarians seem to love the Paleo Diet .
Taubes' work has unsurprisingly invited criticism from scientists, government officials and journalists, even in the pages of Reason Magazine, where he went back and forth with Reason contributor Michael Fumento. Read below and decide for yourself who, if anyone, is right:
Fumento on Taubes - http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/big-fat-fake
Taubes' response - http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/an-exercise-in-vitriol-rather
Fumento's rebuttal - http://reason.com/archives/2003/03/01/gary-taubes-tries-to-overwhelm
Approximately 9:30. Interview and Editing by Zach Weissmueller. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.
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In 1992, former EPA scientist Robert Carton claimed that "fluoridation is the greatest case of scientific fraud of this century." And a 2001 study found that "additional fluoride to that currently available in toothpaste does not appear to be benefiting the teeth of the majority of people."
I wonder if Mr. Taubes thinks it might be possible that water fluoridation is being carried along by the inertia of government pseudo-science in the same way that government nutritional advice is.