Nature Wants Us to Be Fat: The Surprising Science Behind Why We Gain Weight and How We Can Prevent--and Reverse--It Hardcover – February 8, 2022

I am most of the way through this book and it has been interesting to get a kidney doctor's explanation of changes in body fat. This book has the detailed reasoning behind advice to limit carbohydrate and sugar consumption. There is also a lot of information on uric acid and some advice on maintaining a healthy weight.Criticisms:The author's myopic focus on fructose ignores the vitamins and other reasons to eat fruit and he nearly says to limit fruit consumption because fruit contains sugar.At one point he casually mentions people could get a continuous glucose monitor to track glucose levels, which makes me think of a lot of questions he doesn't answer which I find conflicting information for online. Like, is this advice for people who are not already talking to their primary care physician about diabetes? Do glucose monitors involve just a sensor or is there a needle inserted into skin? Is there an over the counter glucose monitor or do you need a prescription? I know I do not need one, but I can imagine that one paragraph exacerbating anxiety for some people worried about weight and blood sugar.In a side bar, this book does not discuss weight control medications or surgery, just causes and prevention of metabolic syndrome. Also the author discloses he has a lab with corporate sponsorship to develop medicines affecting the body's processing of fructose and uric acid, which causes his focus on these substances.Still, an interesting read.

In "Nature Wants Us To be Fat", Dr. Richard Johnson explains the extraordinarily damaging effects of fructose in the human diet.Uniquely, Dr. Johnson frames this discussion around the role that fructose plays in nature. Specifically, he explains that fructose, which is primarily found in fruits, is the primary food consumed by hibernating animals in the months and weeks before they head off for winter. Consuming fructose acts as a "survival switch" for these animals, allowing them to to store the fat that they will need to survive in hibernation.As Dr. Johnson explains, fructose was never meant to be a staple of the human diet. However, along with other sugars, fructose is now a major part of the human food supply, and we're consuming more of it than ever. As a consequence, we are unwittingly turning on the "survival switch," over and over, preparing ourselves for a winter that never comes. So, we get fat.Dr. Johnson describes how fructose makes us fat using simple and clear terms. Drawing on novel research, much of which he has conducted in his own laboratory, he explains how fructose contributes to the modern lifestyle diseases of obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.Importantly, Dr. Johnson's research has also yielded important insights into how we might break this cycle and reclaim our health. He provides a number of dietary and lifestyle recommendations that will allow us to turn off the "survival switch" and reverse or prevent the damage that fructose is causing. These recommendations are simple and easy for any of us to apply.One of the book's strengths is its multidisciplinary approach. In addition to physiology and medicine, Dr. Johnson draws on insights from anthropology, ecology, and animal biology, among other fields. This broad perspective has allowed Dr. Johnson to develop a unique and sophisticated understanding of the role of fructose in animal biology.Reading this book gave me a significantly deeper understanding of the impact of fructose and other sugars on the human body. As a physician, I'll share these lessons with my patients. Personally, I plan on applying them to my own life, as well.Read this book - and you'll come away with a deeper understanding of the levers that you can pull to optimize your health and longevity. Highly recommended!

I appreciated all the information. I wish, beind as I am a whole food vegan, that there was more help in creating a diet.

When I first bought this book I initially thought it was only going to draw up the same conclusions as most books in this modern fat loss category do intermittent fasting and go low carb/keto.This book offers a whole lot more.1. It explains our human history and how we ended up with this problem.2. It connects all the dots to what most in the lowcarb and IF community already believe.3. It adds and explains how salt, dehydration, umami foods and uric acid affect fat gain.4. It explains the crucial role of Exercise in our metabolism and fat loss. Something most diet books will never touch on because the general belief is that the 400 calories cut from exercise, can be equated to a reduction in 400 calories of food intake.5. It teaches us that certain types of Exercise improves our metabolism by restoring the damaged mitochondria giving us more energy and protecting us from getting fat.From this I understand that my misconceptions of salt, msg/umami foods, fibre and exercise has led me to be slightly overweight.For a more in-depth explanation I highly recommend purchasing a copy. It includes and ties together the most up to date knowledge on what we know about how we get fat, gout, high blood pressure, heart disease etc.Most reviews that give a lower rating is due to their firm beliefs in red meats and organs and salt and umami/msg. I think some people buy this book partially to reaffirm their beliefs. Well, scientists are going to debate on some of these topics forever, but staying safe and going for poultry and fish and supplementing with some vitamins is going help.I think it all plays a role, the sugar, the salt, the glucose, the umami, the exercise, water. Understanding all of these will help the individual reader in identifying the root cause of their individual problem. Like I mentioned I now think that exercise is crucial for those with damaged metabolism when before, i thought it unnecessary.

It does . . . Nature wants us to be fat, or at least have good energy stores. Dr Rick Johnson is a very smart sweet guy tryin' to keep us healthy