I was reminded by a friend on Twitter today that all the information about diet is so confusing.

He is right - IT IS CONFUSING. It is confusing because most of the authorities say - Eat less fat - eat more carbs and take more exercise.

But the results do not come from this regime. I went back to spinning last week. Me the newbie is very unfit and weak. I have not taken any hard exercise for 3 years. But I am much thinner than my confederates and they have been pounding away for years. I am not saying you should not take exercise. I am saying that exercise is highly over rated when it comes to weight loss.

It is confusing because I have read the science and most of the authorities have not. This is normal at the end of a paradigm shift. The CW holds in spite of the evidence. Millions had still to die in London before the medical profession accepted Snow's knowledge that water and not smells transmitted Typhus.

The body is not a MACHINE. Machines have a simple energy in - friction = output. We have a complex homeostatic function - it is how the energy is distributed that is the key. Certain foods get distributed differently.

But who wants science? let's look at a simple example.

Sumo wrestlers have to bulk up deliberately. If we know how they do it - maybe you will know how you do it?

See what I mean? Most Japanese are quite thin. So if we know how sumo wrestlers get fat, we may notice something about what goes in that is special.

Here is the answer from Gary Taubes book Good Calores Bad Calories - The cheat is that it is not FAT!

One thing is clear - it is not FAT.

So with this simple insight, you can reduce your confusion.

Ask yourself, why after 40 years of pounding away at eat less fat and more carbs and take more exercise, have we all got so much fatter. Why if the "cure" for diabetes is to cut fat and eat more carbs is the epidemic accelerating?

Here is a wonderful reviewer summary of Taubes findings - Taubes has been through ALL the research

1. Dietary fat, whether saturated or not, does not cause heart disease.

2. Carbohydrates do, because of their effect on the hormone insulin. The more easily-digestible and refined the carbohydrates and the more fructose they contain, the greater the effect on our health, weight, and well-being.

3. Sugars--sucrose (table sugar) and high fructose corn syrup specifically--are particularly harmful. The glucose in these sugars raises insulin levels; the fructose they contain overloads the liver.

4. Refined carbohydrates, starches, and sugars are also the most likely dietary causes of cancer, Alzheimer's Disease, and the other common chronic diseases of modern times.

5. Obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation, not overeating and not sedentary behavior.

6. Consuming excess calories does not cause us to grow fatter any more than it causes a child to grow taller.

7. Exercise does not make us lose excess fat; it makes us hungry.

8. We get fat because of an imbalance--a disequilibrium--in the hormonal regulation of fat tissue and fat metabolism. More fat is stored in the fat tissue than is mobilized and used for fuel. We become leaner when the hormonal regulation of the fat tissue reverses this imbalance.

9. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated, we stockpile calories as fat. When insulin levels fall, we release fat from our fat tissue and burn it for fuel.

10. By stimulating insulin secretion, carbohydrates make us fat and ultimately cause obesity. By driving fat accumulation, carbohydrates also increase hunger and decrease the amount of energy we expend in metabolism and physical activity.

11. The fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be.

This book is backed with solid research by a respected scientist-reporter on concrete, tangible things we can do to improve our health.