Nature Wants Us to Be Fat: The Surprising Science Behind Why We Gain Weight and How We Can Prevent--and Reverse--It
- Downloads：1004
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-02-13 08:52:07
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Richard J. Johnson
- ISBN：1637740344
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Reviews
Lauren
，
This was a really interesting read， dare I say a page turner？ I'd say for the science it was 5-star， for solutions and dietary advice 3。5-4。 Dr Johnson is a prolific author of studies but many are animal studies。 I found the book fizzled when making recommendations such as eat < 50G of sugar and <6000mg of sodium。 It's here you see that Dr Johnson's patients and perhaps who this book is geared toward are just initiating healthy changes。 This was a really interesting read， dare I say a page turner？ I'd say for the science it was 5-star， for solutions and dietary advice 3。5-4。 Dr Johnson is a prolific author of studies but many are animal studies。 I found the book fizzled when making recommendations such as eat < 50G of sugar and <6000mg of sodium。 It's here you see that Dr Johnson's patients and perhaps who this book is geared toward are just initiating healthy changes。 。。。more
Will
，
Studying nutrition had been a passion of mine for years。 Gary Taubes， Jason Fung， and many others have all been circling around the root cause of obesity in modern society， but I'm not convinced that Richard Johnson has really pulled it all together。 The information in this book gets 5 stars， but the quality of the writing is only 2。5 stars。 The author is an exceptional scientist and researcher， not an exceptional writer。 Everyone should read this book， but just go into it with the purpose of ga Studying nutrition had been a passion of mine for years。 Gary Taubes， Jason Fung， and many others have all been circling around the root cause of obesity in modern society， but I'm not convinced that Richard Johnson has really pulled it all together。 The information in this book gets 5 stars， but the quality of the writing is only 2。5 stars。 The author is an exceptional scientist and researcher， not an exceptional writer。 Everyone should read this book， but just go into it with the purpose of gaining knowledge， not being blown away by wonderful prose。It all just makes so much sense。 It explains -why it's harder to stay lean when we get older。 -Why athletes seem like they can eat anything they want。 -Why most traditional calorie restrictions diets are so hard to maintain， and why the weight comes back on。-why keto， low-carb， and paleo diets have had so much success， but might be more restrictive than necessary- Why getting fat makes total sense from an evolutionary perspective- How the whole approach is still totally consistent with thermodynamics， and the equation "Calories in minus calores out equals weight gained" is still true。 Although it's definitely written for the lay person， there's still lots of discussion about enzymes， ATP， mitochondria， and chemical names of sugars and their metabolic byproducts。 。。。more
Joel Kopple
，
I found Richard Johnson’s Nature Wants Us to Be Fat to be a fascinating and insightful book。 I was amazed by Dr。 Johnson’s ability to weave together data from so many disparate disciplines， including geology， archeology， anthropology， molecular biology， biochemistry and metabolism， to form a novel set of observations and insights。 He then fill gaps in knowledge from his own laboratory research。 The entire story that Dr。 Johnson presents is well written and very entertaining as well as highly inf I found Richard Johnson’s Nature Wants Us to Be Fat to be a fascinating and insightful book。 I was amazed by Dr。 Johnson’s ability to weave together data from so many disparate disciplines， including geology， archeology， anthropology， molecular biology， biochemistry and metabolism， to form a novel set of observations and insights。 He then fill gaps in knowledge from his own laboratory research。 The entire story that Dr。 Johnson presents is well written and very entertaining as well as highly informative and very stimulating。 This book is a tour de force。 Joel D。 Kopple， MDProfessor Emeritus of Medicine and Public HealthUCLAThe Lundquist Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical CenterTorrance， CA 。。。more
Christi
，
Great information about how to work with our biology instead of against it for better health。
Sarah Buron
，
There’s a lot of information to digest in this book so it took me a few weeks of reading on and off to finish。 What I found most interesting was the author’s thoughts on the “survival switch” and how animals in nature use fructose to trigger that switch to prepare for hibernation or emergency， whereas many humans live in a way where their “survival switch” is permanently on。 Thanks so much to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review！
DORIS
，
NATURE RULES
Alicia Bayer
，
This was a fascinating book， one of my favorite science/health books that I've read in a while。 Johnson talks about how animals in nature use fructose in order to trigger the "survival switch" that tells their bodies to slow their metabolism and put on weight to prepare for hardship， starvation or emergencies。 Bears gorge on berries to prepare for hibernation， hummingbirds eat so much nectar all day that they end each day in a diabetic state in order to survive until morning， and so on。 The prob This was a fascinating book， one of my favorite science/health books that I've read in a while。 Johnson talks about how animals in nature use fructose in order to trigger the "survival switch" that tells their bodies to slow their metabolism and put on weight to prepare for hardship， starvation or emergencies。 Bears gorge on berries to prepare for hibernation， hummingbirds eat so much nectar all day that they end each day in a diabetic state in order to survive until morning， and so on。 The problem is that our modern diets are extremely high in fructose through things like high fructose corn syrup and also that we can easily convert refined carbs into fructose to trigger our survival switch， so we have developed eating styles that keep us with our survival switches permanently switched on。 He also talks about some other things that trigger it， such as being dehydrated and taking in too much salt。One thing I love about the book is that Johnson and his colleagues have been doing numerous scientific studies on this stuff for years。 They have done studies on mice， fruit flies and people in order to study exactly how things like fructose， glucose， levels of uric acid， dehydration， etc。 affect whether we put on weight， enter states of metabolic disorder， and so on。 It's rich with science that is accessible， interesting and thought provoking。The last third of the book is Johnson's specific advice about what to eat and supplements that can help。 He also talks about how we can create new mitochondria through vigorous exercise， how to go back to previous weights， how various diets like keto and paleo compare in terms of the survival switch， and more。 His recommended diets are very doable in my opinion， but I happily follow a clean， plant-heavy keto diet so I may have different opinions about how easy it is to follow diets。 :） His switch diet is easier than a traditional keto diet （there are similarities）， and you don't have to worry about counting calories or any of that with it （as with keto）。I read hundreds of books a year with a special interest in science and health。 I always know I'm reading a good one if I end up rambling all about its ideas to my family members。 My husband and several of my kids have heard all about this one。 :） Well recommended。I read a digital ARC of this book via Net Galley。 。。。more
Zora Benhamou
，
I loved this great explanation of sugar， fructose， uric acid and the evolution of our fat switch。 Dr。 Richard Johnson is a great story teller who breaks down the science into very understandable terms。 I originally read Dr。 Johnson's prior book The Fat Switch and knew that this follow up book with the latest science would be just as good if not better。 Dr。 Johnson not only explains how nature has designed us to store fat and create a survival switch， he also gives great lifestyle tips and hacks I loved this great explanation of sugar， fructose， uric acid and the evolution of our fat switch。 Dr。 Richard Johnson is a great story teller who breaks down the science into very understandable terms。 I originally read Dr。 Johnson's prior book The Fat Switch and knew that this follow up book with the latest science would be just as good if not better。 Dr。 Johnson not only explains how nature has designed us to store fat and create a survival switch， he also gives great lifestyle tips and hacks on how to turn the switch off and keep it off。 I can highly recommend this book and promise you won't be disappointed。 。。。more
Jamie
，
Outstanding book！ In his book Nature Wants Us to Be Fat， Dr。 Richard Johnson explains why we gain weight and what we can do to reverse this weight gain helping us to become healthier。 Based on research， this well written easy-to-understand book is a groundbreaker。 I highly recommend this book for those who care about their health and want to feel better。
Ell
，