book-reviews pr

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Book Review: Good Calories, Bad Calories

Here’s my review of good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease, by Gary Taubes, 2007. I give it five stars on Amazon.com’s five-star system (“I love it”).

♦ ♦ ♦

This brilliant book deserves much wider currency among physicians, dietitians, nutritionists, and obesity researchers. The epidemic of overweight and obesity over the last 30 years should make us question the reigning theories of obesity treatment and prevention. Taubes questioned those theories and pursued answers wherever the evidence led. He shares in GCBC his eye-opening, even radical, well-reasoned findings.

Ultimately, this tome is an indictment of the reigning scientific community and public nutrition policy-makers of the last four decades. That explains why, twoyears after publication, this serious, scholarly work has not been reviewed by the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , and the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (as of August, 2009).

In Part 1, Taubes examines the scientific evidence for what he calls the fat-cholesterol hypothesis. More commonly known as the diet-heart hypothesis, it’s the idea that dietary fat (especially saturated fat) and cholesterol clog heart arteries, causing heart attacks. Taubes finds the evidence unconvincing. He’s probably right.

Part 2, The Carbohydrate Hypothesis, revives and older theory from the mid-twentieth cenury that is elsewhere called the Cleave-Yudkin carbohydrate theory of dental and chronic systemic disease. In the carbohydrate theory, high intake of sugary foods, starches, and refined carbhohyrates leads first to dental disease (cavities, gum inflammation, periodontal disease) then, later, to obesity and type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, perhaps even cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease. These are, collectively, the “diseases of civilization.”

Part 3 tackles obesity and weight regulation. Taubes writes that “…fattening and obesity are caused by an imbalance—a dysequilibirium—in the hormonal regulation of adipose [fat] tissue and fat metabolism.” Think of the transformation of a skinny 10-year-old girl into a voluptuous young woman. It’s not over-eating that leads to curvaceous fat deposits, growth of mammary tissue, and increase in height; it’s hormonal changes beyond her control.

The primary hormonal regulator of fat storage is insulin, per Taubes. Elevated insulin levels lead to storage of food energy as fat. Carbohydrates stimulate insulin secretion and make us fat.

Although it’s a brilliant book, by no means do I agree with all Taubes’ conclusions. For instance, if carbohydrates cause heart disease, why is glycemic index only very weakly associated with coronary heart disease in men? It’s way too early to blame cancer and Alzheimers on carbohydrates. Primitive cultures may not exhibit many of the diseases of civilization because their members die too young. Taubes is clearly an advocate of low-carb eating. Why didn’t he directly address the evidence that fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in the right amounts are healthy?

I have to give Taubes credit for thinking “outside the box.” His search for answers included reviews of esoteric literature and interviews with scientists in the fields of genetics, athropology, public policy, physiologic psychology, and paleontology, to name a few.

Towards the end of the book, Taubes describes a Mediterranean-style or “prudent” diet that is popular these days. After five years of research for his book, he says that whether a very low-carb meat diet is healthier than a prudent diet “… is still anybody’s guess.” It’s hard for me to put aside numerous observational studies associating health benefits with legumes, fruits, vegetables, and wholegrains. So my “guess” is that the Mediterranean-style diet is healthier. Perhaps the answer is different for each individual. Heck, maybe the answer is low-carb Mediterranean. Both Taubes and I are prepared to accept either result when we have proof-positive data.

Taubes doesn’t base his opinions on late-breaking scientific results. Instead, his research findings mostly span from 1930 to 1980, especially 1940-1960. Once the fat-cholesterol (diet-heart) hypothesis took root around 1960 and blossomed in the 1970s, these data were ignored by the entrenched academics and policy-makers of the day.

To be fair, I’ve got to mention this is not light reading. A majority of people never read another book after they graduate high school. Of those who do, many (like me) will have to look up the definition of “tautology,” “solecism,” etc.

I was taught in medical school years ago that “a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.” Meaning: if you want to lose excess weight, it doesn’t matter if you cut calories from fat, protein, or carbohydrates. I really wonder about that now.

Steve Parker, M.D

Additional Reading

Bray, George A. Viewpoint: Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Obesity Reviews, 9 (2008): 251-263.

Taubes, Gary. Letter to Editor: Response to Dr. George Bray’s review of Good Calories, Bad Calories. Obesity Reviews, 10 (2008): 96-98.

[Via http://diabeticmediterraneandiet.com]

Van Gogh Update

Last week we mentioned the Guardian’s review of Vincent Van Gogh – The Letters: The Complete Illustrated and Annotated Edition. The Wall Street Journal also offers a review in His Art, His Words, by Mary Tompkins Lewis, complete with a delightful short slideshow:

“Van Gogh’s letters remain extremely fragile, are rarely exhibited or lent, and were never written with an eye toward publication. By turns spontaneous, polished, passionate, or even witty, they allow us an intimate view into all that he sought with such zeal to achieve in both his professional and personal lives. They emerge in the newly published compendium, in the Web edition and in the celebratory exhibition as an absorbing literary legacy on their own and crucial to the whole of the painter’s achievement.”

[Via http://haysvillelibrary.wordpress.com]

Ash by Malinda Lo

Ash is a finalist for the 2010 William C. Morris YA Debut Award.

Malinda takes the skeleton story of Cinderella (a young girl loses her mother; father remarried before following his first wife to the grave; girl lives miserably with stepmother and two stepsisters) and builds a new story involving the seductive and deadly fairy’s of lore, the king’s huntress as friend and love interest, and storytelling.

The writing is solid. I’ve always loved fairy tales (not the sugar-coated Disney retellings but the gritty originals) and you will enjoy this book if you do as well. Some of my favorite passages were the fairy tale stories within the story; cautionary tales of humans caught in fairy rings or by the fairy hunt or those who seek out Fairy Queen aid.

I enjoyed this retelling far more than A Curse as Dark as Gold so I wouldn’t be surprised if won, but I have yet to read the other nominees.

[Via http://nicolepoliti.wordpress.com]

Yo Ho Ho, and I need a Bottle of Rum

Some writers can really reach people from beyond the grave – J.R.R. Tolkien comes to mind. Michael Crichton is the latest author to have joined that odd club, with his posthumous novel Pirate Latitudes. The book is likely to sell a ton of copies over the Christmas season – Crichton was one of those rock star writers who sold an absurd number of fairly decent books, and this one will be no exception.

There’s not much to say about the plot, honestly. It takes place in 1665, at Port Royal in Jamaica. England is at war with Spain, and a privateer named Captain Charles Hunter learns of a Spanish ship, potentially with a valuable cargo en route to Europe. He puts together a sort of A-Team of pirates around the port and sets off to capture the ship, despite the massive problems that face them. While doing so, they come across a kracken, scale an impenetrable cliff, take over a spanish stronghold, storms, capture and adventure on the high seas.

This is a book that is just fun. Fans of Pirates of the Caribbean will likely enjoy this, or anybody who likes that sort of genre. Crichton has never been one to do things half-assed: bringing dinosaurs back to life – twice – a time travelling spaceship at the bottom of the ocean, alien microbes back to earth that have a devastating effect on human populations – you name it, Crichton has created the literary equivalent of a Steven Spielberg blockbuster movie, and this is really no exception, except that in this instance, hollywood has remained a step ahead of him with the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.

I’ve been an off and on fan of Crichton over the past couple of years. I fell in love with his earlier books and interesting take on Science Fiction with Jurassic Park, Timeline, The Andromeda Strain, and the Terminal Man, but felt that his last couple of books lacked that same spark and originality that his other novels held. Prey was a let-down, and I never bothered with Next or State of Fear. To be very honest, I’m not thrilled to see that Crichton’s style never really picked up with Pirate Latitudes, either. The book felt rushed, incomplete – most likely because it was, having been discovered in his files after his death last year – but at points, the book felt like it was half an effort, and I’m disappointed that someone didn’t take the manuscript, clean it up and put it into a better suit before shoving it into the public eye. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t stand up to his earlier works.

Don’t let that stop you though. This is, as the bookstore people will say, the perfect beach reading book. It’s light, entertaining, certainly nothing to be read closely, and I half-wonder when we’ll hear about the film adaptation. There’s certainly plenty of materials, and I don’t think that the pirate craze has been wrung completely dry *yet*.

[Via http://jeditrilobite.wordpress.com]

Einstein speaks on Zionism

Einstein speaks on Zionism; (Dec. 2, 2009)

Einstein was a staunch Zionist since before 1920. He said in reply to a letter “I discovered that I was Jewish by the non-Jews as I arrived in Germany 15 years ago” (Einstein was appointed professor at the University of Prussia immediately after WWI in 1918 as his theory of relativity was demonstrated by observation). “The individual Jews reached a high state of evolution but they lacked the support of united communities of blood and tradition: Individual insecurity generates and provokes huge moral fragility. Only the creation of a homeland would heal this sick people. You may call this homeland concept nationalism, a concept that I hate but you are not wrong in your term. It is nationalism with no will for acquiring political power but preoccupied mainly to preserving the dignity and moral health of the Jews. If we were not living within intolerant communities then I would be the first to reject all kinds of nationalism for the benefit of a universal community”. (Didn’t we all read this lame argument?)

Einstein considered Herzl his guiding ideological leader who worked to aiding the Jewish people to discover solidarity for an achievable purpose of establishing a Jewish homeland. Einstein never missed an occasion in supporting the Zionism cause in meetings, speeches, and collecting funds for various Zionist organizations such as (organization for handicraft and agricultural work, ORT) and (organization for health protection of the Zionists, OZE). He visited the USA in 1930 to drum up funding and gathering specialist volunteers to establish a medical Jewish university in Jerusalem. He bantered to the leading literary figures of the period such as Bernard Shaw and H.G Wells in order to draw support from international figures.

Einstein impressed upon the audience that Jews have passion for knowledge, justice, and individual independence that are rooted in Jewish traditions; thus, anyone who is contrary to the ideals of reason and individual liberty is necessary “anti-Semite”. He claims that Judaism has no concept of the world; it focuses almost exclusively on the moral aspects, the sanctity of life, and the right of all living creatures to life. Sanctity of life is the supreme value to which all moral values are linked to. Judaism is not a “faith” because the Jewish God refuses superstitions; the God of the Jews cannot be considered a substitute to life on earth: serving God means serving life on earth; joy for the beauty in this world as the singing of birds, the mumbling of kids toward life.

Einstein would like us to believe that the God of Judaism is sort of a “cosmic spirit “, a symbol for the respect to life and justice and that Marx and Spinoza were inspired by that spirit. He recalled that Walter Rathenau once said “when a Jew says that he is hunting for his pleasure, then he is lying” (The brief history of the Zionist State has demonstrated that hunting Palestinians is the prime entertainment of the Israelis, Jews or not). Einstein claimed that the Sabbath sanctifies animals (so that they may be slaughtered during religious ceremonies?) Einstein ventures into saying that if the old Jewish traditions relied on fear tactics to impose its values then it has outgrown it (Israel is currently totally relying on instilling fear in the region on a State scale).

Einstein claims that if we factor out the teachings of Jesus and the Jewish prophets from their religious institutions then we discover that we have a doctrine capable of healing humanity of all its social ills. He went on “as long as we lived in ghettos, the Jewish communities experienced material and physical hardship but never psychological or social problems. After the emancipation of the Jews in (most of Europe) and their integration in the European societies then the Jewish youth integrated fully in schools, universities, and professional institutions and started to shun Jewish traditions and customs. This conversion was unilateral: the overwhelming majority in the European societies engaged in discrimination.” He went on “we have to clarify our condition as strangers and draw conclusions; we have to work out our social solutions; we have to establish our own syndicates and institutions and refrain from imitating the non-Jewish sets of values and customs. That is the solution for anti-Semitism”

Einstein abhorred the concept of nationalism but made it an exception for the Jews. He insisted on calling the Palestinians “Arabs”; this is not a simple general label that the Europeans used but an ideological Zionist indoctrination to rob the native Palestinians of any national identity. He said that a Jewish homeland should be a spiritual center; the goal is not to establishing a political community but a cultural community founded on Jewish traditions. “Jews and Arabs (in Palestine) got to reach an understanding on guiding lines for efficacious community needs: Switzerland represents a state evolution that caters to the complex constitution among its various nationalities. Our colonization enterprise to re-construct Palestine should be realized to serve the concrete interests of the Arab population; thus, we should refrain from allowing the mandated power of England to meddle in our affairs”.

These pronouncements came after the “Jewish colonization” came to a standstill in the late 20’s due to the trickling of external funding after the US financial crash and the stubborn resistance of the Palestinian to further Jewish immigration. It seems that Weitzman managed to coax England to resume its facilitation to Jewish immigration. In response to a letter from an “Arab” in March 1930, Einstein suggested the formation of mixed “private councils”; four members of each “nationality” would delegates of non-political organizations and syndicates such as medical, legal, worker syndicates or orders and a religious representative. The private council would meet once a week and discuss and deliberate; all discussions to stay secret then decisions would be disseminated to the public as an entity. Einstein must have played the dumb: if the Palestinians could find non-political organizations then it was not the case with the Jews; also, Palestine had a dozen religious sects including many Christian sects and Moslem sects to be able to sending one religious representative.

It is very possible that Europe would have considered reserving statehood for the Western Jews in east Europe because they were integrated in European societies; the main apprehension was the flooding of oriental Jews to Europe, a potentially not agreeable policy to racist Europe.

Einstein must have learned of the genocide committed against the Palestinians after Israel was recognized a State by the UN in 1948; hundred of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by brute force from their towns by a policy of transfer enacted by Ben Gurion. Has Einstein written or spoken on these crimes against humanity? It is said that Ben Gurion PM has proposed to Einstein to be President of the new Israeli State but that he refused for declining health. All Einstein’s manuscripts and documents are preserved in Israel; is there any time limit to have Einstein papers released to the general public? Einstein was the prime disseminator of the Zionist movement targeting the elite political and academic figures in the western world due to his aura as the leading theoretical scientist since 1918. It is very plausible that after the recognition of Israel that Einstein was formally hired as a spy so that his pronouncements be strictly controlled and kept secret after Israel decided on political policies that didn’t agree with Einstein’s principles.

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Review of the book “We are Poor but So Many”—by Ela Bhatt -by LG7

About the Author

Ela R Bhatt (born on 7th September 1933 in Ahmedabad) is the founder of Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). While she was leading the women wing of Textile Labour Association (TLA), she realized the fact that thousands of women who are working as textile workers elsewhere to supplement their family income, but there were state laws protecting the industrial workers but not these self-employed women. In 1972, she started SEWA to organize the self employed women into a union. In 2006, she wrote a book named “We Are Poor but So Many- The story of Self-employed Women in India”

Review of the book:

The Book “We are Poor but So Many”, is an account of journey of the author and SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) in bringing self-employed women at different places into a single union. In this narrative account, the author provides some close glimpses of the lives of the poor, self-employed women. Author also discusses the forces that overpower them, the conditions that perpetuate their poverty, the battles they fight, the prejudices they face, and their working and living conditions. In the book, the author mentions about various cases (Rag Pickers, Chindi and Garment stitchers, vendors, Banking, Health Care, Embroiders, Gram Haat and Sukhi) where SEWA has to struggle to make the women to be the part of the union.

The book is a journey through the condition of being poor, of being self employed and of being a women and how these conditions compound the problems of a person. Author also draws interesting contrast of the prevailing condition.

It begins by addressing the plight of a neglected section of the society, the RAGPICKERS, which mainly comprised of women from landless artisan community, the dalits who have been always oppressed by the higher caste. Though the work is hazardous and hectic, though the profits were less, they had no complaints as they had no bargaining power. The author mentions about the way SEWA has mobilized the women to join SEWA and fight for their rights. It speaks of how the women had eliminated the middlemen and increased their profits and how the women have succeeded in the formation of various cooperatives like Vijaya (for weavers), Gitanjali (young ragpickers and their daughters were trained to make stationery by recycling paper), Saundarya (for cleaners) and Sujata (for ragpicking).

There is mention of the chindi and garment stitchers. Chindi industry was also another informal trade center in Ahmedabad. Chindi are scrap strips of fabric 2-8 inches in length which are by products of textile manufacturing industry. The chindi stitchers were mostly muslim women, living in inner city area of Dariapur. After putting a lot of hard work in stitching the chindi into khol, they used to get a very less price. SEWA succeeded in organizing the chindi stitchers and motivating them to fight for increase in the price per khol and finally they succeeded in the struggle. Later Sabina cooperative was formed which provided economic security to women and this made them to also face the domestic problems with confidence. Similar was the case of garment stitchers where SEWA managed to increase the price from 2.5 rupees to 7.5 rupees. The author highlights the importance of merging the informal sector with formal sector in order to do justice to the women workers, majority of who are the workers in informal sector.

The book tries to describe the problems faced by the vegetable vendors who lose their space in the market due to increased shopping malls and other factors. In addition to this, they have to pay the local mafia and police. Here the role of SEWA has been talked of beautifully as to how it helped the group both financially and legally.

The book talks of the evolution of cooperative bank movement SEWA for uplifting the status of women working in unorganized sector. SEWA as Banker to the Poor Women. The need for bank among poor but economically active women was glaringly apparent because of the fact that these women were large in numbers and were in the debt trap of moneylenders, pawn shops or landlords who were charging exorbitantly high interest rate ranging from 10% per day to 25% per month. In 1972 SEWA approached the bank to help it reaching the poor. But when Ela Bhatt went to register the cooperative bank, she was dissuaded by the Registrar to forget about bank for poor people. He told Ela that these people never repay their loans on one hand and secondly they are illiterate. But Ela never deterred, she had answers for both the questions of the Registrar, firstly though they are poor but they are so many and secondly though they are illiterate they can understand signs, symbols and photographs. With these clarifications Shri Mahila SEWA Sahakari Bank Ltd, a cooperative bank was formed in 1974, especially for poor women with an initial share capital of meager Rs. 71,320 from 6,287 members. The bank was owned and operated by the members of SEWA. SEWA Bank went step by step to help the poor women working in informal sector. First it collected savings in door to door basis and once the credit worthiness was established these people were granted loan for different purposes like loan for consumption need, household needs and emergency need as well. As the poor people are prone to natural disasters and emergencies the bank also provided insurance to mitigate them. Bank appointed BankSathis who were the bank frontline operators, one among the SEWA members. They are responsible for collecting, savings and availing loans. The major challenge for the bank is to stand tall even in the times of disaster and risks. SEWA has proved itself in balancing risk and security to the poor women. With this SEWA has broken the myths that poor are not bankable.

Vulnerability of the poor people due to health problems is an issue discussed by the author. Sickness is recurring crisis in the lives of poor women which attributes due to many reasons like their poor living, working and financial condition. The maximum loan is taken for health reasons and maximum default also occurs due to health reasons only. In 1990, Peoples’ Health Cooperative called Lokswasthya Cooperative was registered which was run by the traditional dais. Death after pregnancy was very common among these slum dwelling women working in unorganized sector. So the cooperative aimed at providing training to the dais for six 12 days session. Health camps were organized in urban slums and also in neighboring villages. Of all the TB centers, SEWA outperformed with highest conversion ratio of 91%. Later drug shops were started selling generic drugs at cheaper price to the poor. Apart from this SEWA introduced health insurance plan, called Vimo SEWA, to cover the risk due to any health problems. As a result of the success story of these dais in handling child births, the government was forced to include the role of dias in Reproductive and Child Health Policy. And probably this movement led the government to think about ASHA to be integral part of National Rural Health Mission.

The author speaks about how SEWA succeeded in helping embroiders of Rajasthan to become a part of SEWA. She has tried to show how many difficulties the women in the area had to face to join SEWA by fighting against their culture, how they succeeded in convincing the society and how they have proved that they can also be leaders. The role played by SEWA in empowering the women, by creating market to their products, providing work even under crisis to maintain the trust, by providing better price to their products, etc. is explained as well.

The author throws light on the problems faced by the gum collecting and salt producing women. SEWA succeeded in helping the gum collectors not only in getting good price but also in getting the license. SEWA provided the financial facility to the salt producers thereby helped them from the clutches of the local traders and provided education to their children. SEWA realized the importance of a market for marketing the products produced by the self-employed women and formed SEWA Gram Mahila Haat with the help of District associations, and Govt. of Gujarat with a vision to meet the marketing requirements of the producer group.

The book also presents a typical case of resettlement pattern followed by the Government. The case talks about the sorry state of affairs of the villagers who were displaced due to the construction of a dam over Sukhi river and the failure of the Government in providing rehabilitation to them. SEWA intervened in the area to look into the plight of the women and suggested a plethora of steps to help them improve their own condition. Village meetings, visits to successful ventures organized in other villages greatly improved their confidence levels. They helped in improving the condition of drinking water and irrigation of the village which were the first steps towards development. SEWA helped them by training them in nursery raising and by providing banking facilities.

The reforms for the workers in the informal sector are also discussed by Ela Bhatt. The informal sector employes 92% of the work force and contribute 63% of the country’s GDP, 50% of savings and 40% of exports. Yet this sector is largely neglected by the Government due to the absence of a proper union. The situation in India finds comparison with that of South Africa where SEWU (Self-Employed Women’s Union in South Africa), the sister organization of SEWA works. The author strongly feels for the plight of poor women who needs to be given scope for self-employment to enable them to come out of the clutches of poverty.

Only a holistic approach to development which promotes self-help, support local cooperative economic initiatives and emphasize sharing and pooling of resources at every level can attain significant success. Sewa is the journey that talks about the success that these women carved for themselves. It is an inspiration for many who could walk on similar lines and bring about similar changes in their lives.

[Via http://socialentrepreneurshipximb.wordpress.com]