I read Good Calories, Bad Calories over several months. This book is incredibly well researched (Gary Taubes says he's spent over fifteen years researching the book), and very well written.

It examines the science behind the "carbohydrate hypothesis." The hypothesis is that excess carbohydrate consumption, specifically sugar, high fructose corn syrup and other refined carbohydrates (e.g. white bread and white rice) is behind the rise in obesity over the last twenty years.

In order to make this argument, Taubes shows how he thinks public health officials got it wrong, leading them to effectively recommend that we eat more carbohydrates (we're replacing the fat we stopped eating with something, usually carbohydrates). This is perhaps the most fascinating part of the book. Taubes documents how a hypothesis (fat raises cholesterol causes heart disease and obesity) that was based primarily on epidemiological studies became the basis of the recommended diet in the United States (and elsewhere in the world). In the tale that Taubes tells, this wasn't because this hypothesis was rigorously tested. The studies designed to test the cholesterol hypothesis were inconclusive. Instead, this was a battle of personalities, with careers and reputations at stake.

Taubes then reviews over a century of research. In doing so, he make a compelling and convincing defence of the carbohydrate hypothesis.

While the book is an impressive work, I had a two small issues with it.

The first is that Taubes effectively portrays some of the scientists mentioned in the book as the villains of the piece. This is not a dispassionate book, and you will leave with an unfavorable impression of a number of scientists. I'm not entirely convinced that it was necessary to do in order for Taubes to effectively make his argument.

The second is the lack of illustrations. Taubes is often describing complex biochemistry. While he is a fantastic writer and his descriptions are always clear, he often spends several pages describing a process that could have been made clear with a one page illustration.

Those are both somewhat minor issues and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone with an interest in nutrition.