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All Thumbs Book Reviews
The Obesity Epidemic: impressive to the uneducated, but it is incorrect.
What Caused It? How Can We Stop It? Where does the formula “one pound equals
By Zoë Harcombe, BA, MA thrity-five hundred calories” come from? Har-
Columbus Publishing, 2010 combe went to significant effort to trace that no-
tion back to its origin. She researched the studies.
Near the start of this book we see a list She checked with all the major expert organiza-
of very good questions relating to the topic of tions in Britain, including the British Dietetic
obesity: Does energy in equal energy out? Do Association and the Department of Health. The
the laws of thermodynamics apply to humans? straightest answer she got was, “We don’t know,”
Where does the formula “one pound equals and it went down hill from there. It turns out that
thirty-five hundred calories” come from? Are no one even knows exactly how the formula is
obese people always greedy or lazy or both? Can calculated. The closest approximation Harcombe
you prove saturated fat causes heart disease? could come up with assumes there are 9 calories
How does exercise relate to weight loss or gain? per gram of fat. One pound of fat would be 454
There are other good questions, and their an- grams. Human adipose tissue is approximately
swers may surprise a lot of people. To answer the 87 percent lipids, so 87 percent of 454 is 395.
first two questions in the list above, Harcombe Multiply 395 grams by 9 calories per gram and
untangles some widespread misinformation you get 3555 calories. This equation is further
about the first law of thermodynamics. That first muddied by the fact that 9 calories per gram is
law does not say energy in must equal energy out. merely an estimate. Scientific experiments have
It says that energy in a closed system at thermal measured anywhere from 8.7 to 9.5 calories
equilibrium is neither created nor destroyed. per gram. When multiplied out, the answer lies
Energy can be transformed. Is the human body a somewhere between 3436 and 3752 calories per
closed system? No. So anytime you see “energy pound (in fat round numbers). The difference
in equals energy out” in an obesity discussion, between those numbers is 316.
you are seeing a misapplication and misinterpre- If you enjoy all this math, there is even
tation of the laws of thermodynamics. It may look more in the book for you to pig out on. If your
CHANGING COURSE FOR LIFE: Local Solutions to Global Problems
By Sir Julian Rose
“Continuously accepting ever more restrictive clamps upon our civil liberties and human aspirations ultimately weakens
and confuses us, making us cannon fodder for all the consuming appetites of corporate pirates and political apologists.
There is nothing more important to do now than to take the authority to control our lives out of such people’s hands, and
to pour our energies into securing a resurgent future for largely self-governing human scale communities throughout the
world.” So writes Sir Julian Rose, who urges his readers to reconnect with farmers, the land and small-scale communities,
and what better way to start than by obtaining our food from farmers and artisans. In this way we help build a just eco-
nomic system, “one which establishes the best means for as many people as possible to realize their potential, and helps
to build the shared goal or ideal of a caring society.”
Reductionist science, agricultural policy, environmental destruction, the role of the arts, modern medicine, and the
trend to globalization are some of the themes Rose illuminates with his insight in this excellent little book. Says Rose, “All
infrastructure should serve the purpose of helping humanity—and nature—to reach a healthier, more subtle and more
dynamic state of self realisation.” That’s a goal we can all eat for! New European Publications. THUMBS UP.
Review by Sally Fallon Morell
50 Wise Traditions WINTER 2010
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