Good Calories, Bad Calories (91 page)

This problem was particularly significant in the one trial I omitted: Dansinger et al. 2005:46 (table 2). Here the subjects randomized to the Atkins diet consumed an average of 137 grams of carbohydrates per day (32 percent of calories) after only two months of the trial, and 190 grams (over 40 percent) at six months and a year—the equivalent of four to five large baked potatoes every day—effectively identical to subjects randomized to low-fat, low-calorie diets. Thus, the similarity in weight loss on the different diets in this particular trial may simply reflect the similarity in carbohydrate consumption.

“first published synthesis…”: Bravata et al. 2003.

“Calories are al alike…”: Quoted in Berland 1983:7. “the effect of specific…”: Rubner 1982:36.

Bistrian and Blackburn instructed: Palgi et al. 1985. “thousands of patients…”: Interview, Bruce Bistrian.

Paradox relating to hunger: Leith 1961 (“nagging discomfort”); Peña et al. 1979; Hanssen 1936; Krehl et al. 1967 (“more than amply satisfied”). “Isn’t the proof…”: Interview, Bruce Bistrian.

Sims’s overfeeding experiments: Goldman et al. 1976:167.

Bloom’s articles on starvation therapy: Azar and Bloom 1963 (“At a cel ular level…”); Bloom and Azar 1963.

“little hunger”: Bloom 1958. “In total starvation…”: Keys, Brozek, et al. 1950:829. “The most astonishing aspect…”: Drenick et al. 1964. “The gratifying weight loss…”: Anon. 1964c.

“mighty stimulant…”: Pennington 1954. “Many individuals spontaneously…”: Dwyer 1985:185.

“The fact remains…”: Anon. 1973.

“If you put a restaurant-size…”: Mayer 1975a:30–31. Fal back for the NIH recommendation: Ernst and Levy 1984:733–34; interview, Wil iam Harlan.

“Yudkin showed that…”: Interview, George Bray. Two papers: Yudkin and Carey 1960 [six subjects]; Stock and Yudkin 1970 [eleven subjects].

Yudkin explained: Yudkin 1958 (“The irrefutable, unarguable…,” 59; “much of the extra fat today…,” 141; fat calories wil come down, 149).

Experimental evidence: Yudkin and Carey 1960.

Subjects losing weight consuming considerable calories: Milch et al. 1957; Werner 1955; Ril iet 1954 (“numerous and encouraging”).

“al -you-can-eat diet[s]…”: Brody 1981c. “The best definition”: Keys, Brozek et al. 1950:32.

“persistent clamor of hunger”: Keys, Brozek, et al. 1950:835. “nonappetizing nature”: Cahil 1975:58–59.

“token” amounts: Keys, Brozek, et al. 1950:74.

“their appetite-depressing…”: Spark 1973. “Substances cal ed ketones…”: Brody 1996.

The existing research refutes ketone hypothesis: Drenick et al. 1964 (“It is not clear…” “…did not reappear”); Sidbury and Schwartz 1975. See also Kinsel 1969.

“these foods digest…”: Brody 2002. Even those investigators: Werner 1955; Kinsel et al. 1964 (“There is a good reason…”).

Yudkin had struggled: Yudkin and Carey 1960 (“for reasons…” “It would seem…”).

“It is better…”: Bernard 1957:37. “inevitability”: Yudkin and Carey 1960. “Claims that weight loss…”: White and Selvey 1974:48.

Physicians who took Pennington seriously: Thorpe 1957; Tal er 1961.

Pennington set out: Pennington 1954 (“voluminous…,” “meager…,” “These tended…”). See also Pennington 1951b.

Something Benedict suggested: Benedict 1925:57. And Du Bois believed: Du Bois 1936:254–55. “index of calorie nutrition…”: Pennington 1953b.

“static phase”: Rony 1940:47. “His caloric intake…”: Pennington 1952.

Diet-induced decrease: Benedict et al. 1919:694–95; Strang and Evans 1929; Brown and Ohlson 1946. Lusk suggested: Lusk 1928:173. “their tissues are not…”: Pennington 1952.

A conundrum: Pennington 1953d. Stetten reported: Salcedo and Stetten 1943.

Applying the same law of energy conservation: Pennington 1952.

“the size of the adipose deposits…”: Ibid.

“provides for a more effective…”: Ibid.

“It dawned on me…” and “like clockwork”: Pennington 1954.

Defect explains sedentary behavior: Pennington 1951a.

Pennington explained this wasn’t the case: Ibid.

Consider the kind: The example of Keys’s conscientious objectors is my own, based on Pennington 1951a.

Maintain weight at seventeen hundred calories: Keys 1949.

“What happens when…” and “The first noticeable effect…”: Pennington 1951a.

“A more rational form…”: Pennington 1953d. directs “measures primarily toward…”: Pennington 1951a.

Healthy equilibrium reestablished: Pennington 1953b (“Mobilization of increased…”); Adolph 1947; Richter 1976;353 If fat can be mobilized: Pennington 1953c (“sufficient effectiveness,” “no calorie restriction…,” “Weight would be lost…,” “The result would…”).

Energy expenditure would increase: Pennington 1953a. Du Bois’s observation: McClel an et al. 1931.

Four thousand calories a day: Evans in Newburgh 1931a; Werner 1955. Might eat three thousand calories: Pennington 1953b.

Pyruvic acid: Pennington 1955. His contemporaries dismiss him: see Yudkin 1959.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:

THE CARBOHYDRATE HYPOTHESIS, I: FAT METABOLISM

Epigraph. “Looking at obesity…”: Bruch 1957:147–48.

Astwood discovered: Anon. 1976 (“a bril iant series…”); Cassidy 1976 (“a record perhaps…”).

“The Heritage of Corpulence:” Astwood 1962.

“regulation of ingestive behaviors…”: Greenwood 1985:20.

“The vast majority…”: Ibid.

“Something has happened…”: Interview, George Cahil .

Bergmann’s lipophilia hypothesis: Bergmann and Stroebe 1927 (“It seems just as il ogical…,” 593–94). I’m grateful to Richard Frank and Haidi Kuhn Segal for the translation. See also Bauer 1941; Rony 1940:159–75.

“A second operation…”: Bauer 1941.

Case reported in 1913: Rony 1940 (“Adiposity of the lower body,” 170–71).

“noted Vienna authority…”: Anon. 1930b. Bauer’s expertise: Anon. 1979. See also Bauer 1945. My primary source for Bauer’s observations on obesity is Bauer 1941. “The genes responsible…”: Bauer 1940.

“A local factor must exist…”: Bauer 1941:975.

“Like a malignant tumor…”: Quoted in ibid.:978.

“obese boys in whom…”: Ibid.:980.

Grafe’s textbook: Grafe 1933. “more or less ful y accepted”: Rony 1940:173–74. “…this conception deserves…”: Wilder and Wilbur 1938:310–11.

1955 German textbook chapter: Bahner 1955:1023–26. References from German literature: Rony 1940; Rynearson and Gastineau 1949. Footnote.

Interview, Theodore Van Ital ie.

Bauer’s articles in English: Silver and Bauer 1931; Bauer 1940; Bauer 1941. Newburgh’s seminal paper: Newburgh 1942.

“indubitable” and “is also probably present…”: Cahil 1978.

“significantly more weight”: Lee and Schaffer 1934. For a similar experiment, see Marx et al. 1942.

“These mice wil make fat…”: Mayer 1968:48. Benedict reported this: discussed in Alonso and Maren 1955, which reported confirmation of the observation in a different strain of mice.

Greenwood’s Zucker rat studies: Greenwood et al. 1981.

Hypothalamic tumor in 1840: Brobeck 1946. Nicolaidis recounted: Interview, Stylianos Nicolaidis.

Hypothalamic research in its early years: See Brobeck et al. 1943; Magoun and Fisher 1980. Hetherington and Ranson resolved controversy: Hetherington and Ranson 1939.

Brobeck’s research: Brobeck et al. 1943 (“the laws of thermodynamics…,” 836).

Ranson interpreted: Hetherington and Ranson 1942 (“the tremendously decreased…”). “related to the feeding habits”: Brobeck et al. 1943:842. Footnote.

Ibid.

Ranson argued: Hetherington and Ranson 1942:615.

“concertmaster…”: Anon. 1940.

Ranson studied fluid balance and diabetes insipidus: Fisher et al. 1938:1–2.

Hypothalamic lesions cause diabetes insipidus: Ibid.

“classic type of experimental obesities”: Mayer 1953a. Teitelbaum’s experience: Teitelbaum 1955; interview, Philip Teitelbaum (“Of course they overate…”).

Lesioning the lateral hypothalamus: Anand and Brobeck 1951. Ransom’s lab had reported: Magoun and Fisher 1980.

Hetherington did research for U.S. Air Force: Interview, John Brobeck. Later editions of Ranson’s textbook: See Ranson and Clark 1964:311.

Hypothalamus as regulator of eating behavior: See, for instance, Sutin 1976; Schachter and Rodin 1974:75–83. Psychologists would “discard”: Sclafani 1981b:409.

Brooks reported: Brooks 1946.

Brooks could only do so: Brooks 1946; Brooks and Lambert 1946 (“severe and permanent…,” 700; “fol owed by an augmentation…,” 707).

Studying hibernators: See Mrosovsky 1976.

Dietary models of obesity: Sclafani 1987 (high-sugar diets); Oscai et al. 1984 (high-fat). See also Wade 1982. Regaining weight after fasting: Levitsky et al. 1976. “It doesn’t matter…”: Interview, Irving Faust. Transgenic animals: See, for instance, Bluher et al. 2003; Cohen et al. 2002.

Removed ovaries from rats: For an excel ent review of this work and the entire field of weight regulation and reproduction in mammals, see Wade and Schneider 1992. It was my interview with George Wade that opened my eyes to the reverse-causality hypothesis of weight gain.

“revelation”: Interview, George Wade. “The animals overeat and get fat…”: Interview, Tim Bartness.

“Hard living…retards…”: Darwin 2004:56. “Fertility is linked…,” “partitioning and utilization…,” and “reciprocal, redundant…”: Wade and Schneider 1992:235–36.

Newburgh stil promoting his hypothesis: Newburgh 1948. “an excuse for avoidance…”: Rynearson and Gastineau 1949:42.

“being ruthless in self-criticism…”: Krebs 1967.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:

THE CARBOHYDRATE HYPOTHESIS, II: INSULIN

Epigraphs. “Every woman knows…”: Passmore and Swindel s 1963:331. “The fact that insulin increases…”: Haist and Best 1966:1350.

Newburgh rejected “endocrine abnormality”: Newburgh, 1929 lecture, in Newburgh and Johnston 1930a. “theories that attributed obesity…”: Anon. 1955b.

Mayer pointed out: Mayer 1968:67–68.

Von Noorden suggested: Von Noorden, 1907c:61–62.

As early as 1923: Rony 1940:228.

Falta argued in pre-insulin era: Falta 1923:583–84. (“A functional y intact pancreas is necessary for fattening,” is more commonly translated as “For fattening, therefore, is necessary a functional y intact pancreas.”) Falta argued after insulin discovered: Rony 1940:289.

Clinicians in Europe using insulin: Grafe 1933:75–76. “rich in carbohydrates…”: Rony 1940:289–90. Insulin for depression and schizophrenia: See Rinkel and Himwich 1959. “al the patients gained weight”: Nasar 1998:293. “drastic increase”: Butscher 2003: 122. The Bell Jar: Plath 1996 (twenty pounds, 237; “fatter and fatter,” 192).

Insulin therapy for diabetics: Jacobson et al. 1994:444; Carlson and Campbel 1993. Rosenzweig portrayed: Rosenzweig 1994:483–84. Footnote. Ibid.

“an excel ent fattening substance”: Grafe 1933:75–76. Newburgh insisted: Newburgh 1942:1082–83. See also Conn 1944.

Rony reviewed: Rony 1940:115.

Clinical investigators would state: Rynearson and Gastineau 1949:34–35. See also Jol iffe 1963:15.

McGarry on Minkowski: McGarry 1992.

“garbage can”: Interview, Bernard Jeanrenaud.

“Until recently…”: Bruch 1957:148. “amazing how little…”: Bruch 1973:6.

“the time-honored assumption…”: Bruch 1957:148. The first phase: See Wertheimer and Shapiro 1948:452–53 (“no marked quantity…” “abundant”).

Schoenheimer’s life and work: Clarke 1941. With David Rittenberg: See Schoenheimer 1961.

Their discoveries: Schoenheimer 1961 (“indistinguishable…,” 56). Wertheimer’s seminal review: Wertheimer and Shapiro 1948 (“Mobilization and deposition,” “The ‘classical theory…,’” “the lowering of the fat…,” 454). Footnote. Renold and Cahil 1965a:1–3.

“a factor acting directly…”: Wertheimer and Shapiro 1948:454.

Krebs cycle: Krebs 1981 (“the main energy source…” “Al three major…,” 114).

“The high degree of metabolic…”: Bruch 1957:155–56.

Path of events to obesity: Ibid. (“the big question…,” 156; “Since it is now…,” 158).

“the fat streams…”: Magnus-Levy 1907:164. “smal component…”: Benedict 1915. Nutritionists insisted: Cahil and Owen 1968; Newsholme and Start 1973: 212–13.

The 1956 papers: Dole 1956; Gordon and Cherkes 1956 (“relation to the need” “the anticipated need”); Laurel 1956.

APS Handbook: Renold and Cahil 1965. 50to 70 percent: Fritz 1961. “Adipose tissue is no longer…”: Renold et al. 1965. An excel ent review of the regulation of fat metabolism and adipose tissue is Newsholme and Start 1973:195–246.

“This lipogenesis is regulated…”: Wertheimer 1965:6. Footnote. Hol ifield and Parson 1965.

Second critical point: See Newsholme and Start 1973:197–98.

“a ceaseless stream…”: Brodie et al. 1965:584.

half the triglycerides not used for fuel: Reshef et al. 2003. “The storage of triglyceride fat…”: Gordon 1969:329–30.

Glycerol phosphate: For a review of the role of this molecule, the triglyceride/fatty-acid cycle, and the glucose/fatty acid cycle, see Newsholme and Start 1973:214–34. “so that they are unable…”: Gordon 1970:242.

Randle cycle: Randle et al. 1963 is Randle’s seminal paper on the glucose/fatty acid cycle.

“even in trace amounts…”: Wertheimer and Shafrir 1960:483.

“the principal regulator…” and “only the negative…”: Berson and Yalow 1965:561.

Effects of other hormones suppressed by insulin: Gordon 1970; Fritz 1961. Anything that increases insulin: Berson and Yalow 1965. The list of hormones that promote fat mobilization and accumulation is from Steinberg and Vaughn 1965.

Insulin secretion in VMH-lesioned animals: Han et al. 1965; Han 1968; Frohman et al. 1969; Han and Frohman 1970. “off the scale”: Powley 1977.

Severing the vagus nerve: Hustvedt and Lovo 1972. Hypersecretion of insulin: Assimacopoulos-Jeannet and Jeanrenaud 1976. Footnote. Bray 1984.

“overwhelming”: Woods and Porte 1976:275.

“relative unavailability…”: Gordon 1964:1295.

Amount of glycerol phosphate available: Margolis and Vaughan 1962; Renold and Cahil 1965b.

“It may be stated categorical y…”: Gordon et al. 1963.

“Carbohydrate is driving insulin…”: Interview, George Cahil . 393 Fructose converted more efficiently: Havel 2005:135–36.