Book Eighteen my 2013 Goal

Summary of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity & Disease by Robert Lustig by Save Time Summaries
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summary of Fat Chance: Betting the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Foods, Obesity & Disease by Robert Lustig is by Save Time Summaries and it is just that, the summary of the full version book. It takes key points of the chapters leaving most of the discussion and not so 'key' points. To me they are much like the Cliff's Notes I used to study for the test we were having on the novel we just read in school. Note that I said, "leaving most of the discussion" because it does contain enough so the reader understands the points it is trying to make. In other words, this is not pages after page of a list of key points from the book, there are paragraphs not lists and this reads and explains key points much like any other book would only this doesn't go into great detail. For example under "Learned Behavior or a Choice?" one of the paragraphs following talk about, "A recent alarming study reveals that even six-month-old babies are showing increasing signs of obesity." It makes the point that at that age the baby obviously didn't choose to be obese or have a choice of their food intake. What it doesn't tell me is who did this study, where, when, how was it done or any other details about it. I am not sure if the full version of the book has this information in it or not. So if you are interested in just the 'meat' of the full version book without the potatoes, then this is great. A real time saver! However, if you want to get deeper into it then you are better off with the full version book.

As far as the information, some parts made me say, "Big Deal!" Is it really a big deal that five of the government's major public health agencies agree that the cause of obesity is from eating too much while exercising too little? These are the same agencies that either did nothing or waited until many years later (and in some cases they waited until many more people died) before they did or said anything. Or better yet, they would say something only to pull a flip-flop years later. For example, The US Surgeon General in 1964 claimed smoking wasn't addicting. (Need I say more?) Besides, I know as a fact that not all obesity is caused by overeating and under exercise so I really don't care what they agree on. Besides, I am sure if we wait long enough one of them (if not more) will do a flip-flop.

Don't get me wrong, there was a lot interesting too. The one that stands out the most is the biochemistry and hormones in chapter four. I found the Leptin deficiency testing quite interesting but can't help wonder why it hasn't continued. This is such an important subject, as the book explains it is a worldwide issue that not only is a personal problem, it is a social one, one that is life-threatening to so many and the chapter ends with, "Further research is needed, but this developement definitely has many health professionals feeling optimistic". This is the sort of thing that make me think, huh? Shouldn't that read, "further testing is being done"?

So to sum it up, this summary is a good way to get the key points of the book without having to read the three hundred and whatever pages of the full version book. It is a great way to get the general subject of any one point so I know what to search for, for more details. (Example, I know the 6 month old babies are showing signs of obesity so I know that I can look up this study for more detailed information). It is a great time saver and well worth the cost.


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