Reuters:

Changes in diet and a sedentary lifestyle have fueled an obesity epidemic, but genetics also play a role and could explain why some people put on weight more easily than others, a leading obesity expert said on Friday.

I don't doubt that genes are important in obesity, but it seems clear to me that poor diet and lack of exercise is the key to the obesity epidemic as genetic makeup has not changed in the past 100 years while obesity rates have skyrocketed.

-Tim

5:19:24 PM    comment []  

New York Times by Jason Epstein:

My apologies to readers who may have been seduced by my euphoric example when I announced my conversion to Atkinsism in these pages nearly a year ago. The diet worked. My conversion failed. In half the time it took to lose 20 pounds, I gained 12 back, not because my will is weak but because my temptations are strong, especially for my daughter-in-law Susie Norris's homemade chocolates, hamburgers at the Corner Bistro, Maida Heatter's ginger biscotti and long, slow dinners accompanied by Leslie Rudd's smoothly complex cabernet/merlot blend.

I've always thought that the Atkins diet was too strict in restricting carbohydrates. I prefer the Zone diet, which is more moderate in terms of carbohydrates.

10:43:07 AM    comment []