Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was very disappointed in this book by Colin Campbell. First, let me say that I read and liked "The China Study" (Campbell), "The Starch Solution" (McDougall), "How Not to Die" (Gregor), and "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" (Esselstyn). I have been eating Whole Foods Plant Based for nearly a year and have lost over 90 pounds and feel great. So I'm a convert to this way of life. However, this book is misleading, a huge missed opportunity, and a rip-off, in my opinion. First, the book is tiny. I've attached a picture of the physical book, which is smaller than a normal book in dimensions and extremely thin on top of that. Yet it's priced, in paperback and kindle, like a regular book. I actually listened to the audio book, which was astonishingly short, only a few hours. More important: is its failed promise and missed opportunity. I listened to this book on the way to a family reunion, hoping to get some talking points. I did low carb for about six years (I'd always lose 20 pounds and then just sit there and eventually go off, gain it back, repeat ad nauseum). Nearly all my family is on low carb and they think it's the healthiest way of eating. So I was hoping for some evidence to convince them otherwise. You won't find it here. Essentially what this is is Campbell's refuting (ie ranting) against "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. As a top US researcher who was involved in many of the findings and committees that Taubes quotes and/or denigrates, I can understand Campbell wanting to set the record straight. Furthermore, I'd read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" years ago, and it's very convincing. I was glad to see a rebuttal made and found Campbell's points interesting and good to know, though they did come off as pretty biased. Essentially the argument Taubes makes is that "the government recommended low fat, so everyone did that for years and it only made us fatter and sicker". As Campbell points out, very few people truly ATE low fat at that time, despite government recommendations. And what the government actually suggested (which was a compromise) was 30% fat, which is still "high", according to Campbell. Furthermore, studies that Taubes quotes that compare "low fat" to "low carb" aren't truly "low fat" (like 30%) so the results are meaningless. And the carbs Taubes villifies are refined carbs (extracted sugars and starches), not whole grain complex carbs. Next, Campbell has a brief chapter debunking the Paleo idea. In sum: there's little proof ancient man was primarily meat-based. It's more likely our ancestors ate like chimps do today. That's all well and good so far, but that's where this tiny book ends. There is so much missing that should be in a book called "Low Carb Fraud". If I handed this book to a loved one, it would come across as a biased rant. There's no ACTUAL EVIDENCE here, which is what I needed. 1. Campbell says problem carbs are refined carbs, like sugar. Complex carbs like those found in whole grains are very healthy. But he throws that out there and then never presents any arguments or evidence to support this. At all. Not even anecdotal, like "the Mayans ate sweet potatoes and the healthiest Chinese consume large quantities of rice". There is just nothing to support this POV in this book. 2. Consuming such large amounts of animal protein and fat are unhealthy. This, too, is passed over as a given. Again, no evidence is presented whatsoever to support this claim. How is this convincing to anyone? It's almost a grumbled aside. 3. Low fat. Campbell repeatedly complains that TRUE "low fat" is 10% of calories not the 30% of calories most studies use as their standard, therefore those studies are meaningless. Okay. So then how does a 10% fat diet fare? Is there any evidence that it's a good thing? Why do we need to go that low? What's wrong with fat exactly? No explanation is given. This is not addressed at all! 4. Well then, what about people who have actually done low carb for long periods? Any evidence, or even anecdotal stories, about its dangers? What's so bad about it exactly? Nope. Nothing. Excuse me!?? I'm sorry. I thought this book was actually going to make an argument against low carb eating. Apparently not. I realize that Campbell, and others writers, have written on these topics, but I'm not going to hand someone an entire library. This material should have been summarized and presented in a clear, conclusive way in this book, perhaps if only in an effort to make it book length. We NEED a book that fully addresses and clears the "low carb" question once and for all, something that will at least make low carbers think hard. Something, I dare say, like Taubes "Good Calories, Bad Calories". In that sense, Taubes has trounced Campbell soundly. Finally, to the business and marketing folks and Campbell himself. This feels like a lecture Campbell gave that was hastily put into book form to make money off the WFPB hype. Next time, maybe try making it an actual book.