An updated and condensed version of his 2007 title, Good Calories, Bad Calories, this is the most important and concise book you will ever read on how fat is regulated within the body and what happened in the field of nutritional science in the US that led us to become an overweight population.

Gary Taubes is a professor at Columbia University and an award-winning science journalist who has devoted the past two decades to assimilating 150 years of obesity research and presented it with understandable scientific clarity. Compete with an updated afterword that answers frequently asked questions, it is a useful tool to come back to when questions arise or when reinforcement is needed. In Chapter 11 entitled, “A Primer on the Regulation of Fat,” Taubes explains the role of insulin and how this hormone contributes to fat being stored within the cells rather than used for energy. His discussion of the enzyme LPL (lipoprotein lipase) and the mechanics of how it pulls fat into either a muscle cell or a fat cell is straightforward, easy to understand, and provides answers to the questions related to why we fatten around the middle as we age and why exercise, in and of itself, will not make us thinner.

This national bestseller is a must read and the first book on your list if your goal is healthy weight management. Also available on Audible and read by Mike Chamberlain, this 8 hour audio book is the best investment of time you can make for your long-term health.

Check out our other book recommendations on Good Reads–find us by our member name, The Queen Anne Diet.