--- title: Don’t Blame Fat: Sources for Further Reading on the Healthy-Diet Debate description: More to read about the changing American diet canonical: https://time.com/2912207/info-about-saturated-fat-and-sugar/ author: Bryan Walsh article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-23T22:00:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:34:19.424Z article:section: Health og:title: Don’t Blame Fat: Sources for Further Reading on the Healthy-Diet Debate og:description: More to read about the changing American diet og:url: https://time.com/2912207/info-about-saturated-fat-and-sugar/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Don’t Blame Fat: Sources for Further Reading on the Healthy-Diet Debate twitter:description: More to read about the changing American diet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Don't Blame Fat: Sources for Further Reading on the Healthy-Diet Debate  by [Bryan Walsh](https://time.com/author/bryan-walsh/)  ## Bryan Walsh Jun 23, 2014 10:00 PM UTC  by [Bryan Walsh](https://time.com/author/bryan-walsh/)  ## Bryan Walsh Jun 23, 2014 10:00 PM UTC The debate over saturated fat—and fat in general—is of interest to anyone looking to eat a healthier diet, as the tremendous response to [TIME’s recent cover story](http://time.com/2863227/ending-the-war-on-fat/) has underscored. For readers interested in diving more deeply into the topic, here are some sources for more information. —Gary Taubes’s 2008 book [_Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health_](http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462), as well as his 2002 _New York Times_ _Magazine_ cover story “[What If It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/07FAT.html)” and his new project, the [Nutrition Science Initiative](http://nusi.org/) —Dr. Robert Lustig’s 2012 book [_Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity and Diabetes_](http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Chance-bitter-truth-about-ebook/dp/B0095ZMPTU/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403292934&sr=1-1&keywords=Robert+Lustig) and the Gary Taubes feature about sugar, “[Is Sugar Toxic](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=all&%5Fr=0),” from 2011 —Jonny Bowden and Dr. Stephen Sinatra’s 2012 book [_The Great Cholesterol Myth: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won’t Prevent Heart Disease—and the Statin-Free Plan That Will_](http://www.amazon.com/Great-Cholesterol-Myth-Disease--Statin-Free-ebook/dp/B009PKIPOE/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403293241&sr=1-1&keywords=cholesterol) —Dr. William Davis’s 2011 book [_Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health_](http://www.amazon.com/Wheat-Belly-Lose-Weight-Health-ebook/dp/B00571F26Y/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403293387&sr=1-1&keywords=Wheat+belly) —Journalist Nina Teicholz’s 2014 book [_The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet_](http://www.amazon.com/Big-Fat-Surprise-Butter-Healthy-ebook/dp/B00A25FDUA/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403537659&sr=8-1&keywords=big+fat+surprise) —The 2014 documentary [_Fed Up_](http://fedupmovie.com/#/page/home), from executive producers Laurie David and Katie Couric, which we wrote about [here](http://time.com/92545/7-not-so-sweet-lessons-about-sugar/) —Michael Moss’s 2013 book [_Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us_](http://www.amazon.com/Salt-Sugar-Fat-Giants-Hooked-ebook/dp/B00985E3UG/ref=sr%5F1%5F4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403293533&sr=1-4&keywords=saturated+fat) —Former FDA commissioner Dr. David A. Kessler’s book [T_he End of Overating_](http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Overeating-Insatiable-American/dp/B004NSVE32), from 2010 —_TIME_ magazine’s [1961 cover on Ancel Keys](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,828721,00.html), the architect of the anti-fat fight movement; our famous 1984 cover [on the danger of cholesterol](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,921647,00.html); a 2002 cover on [what makes us fat](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1003160,00.html); a 2006 [cover about fat-free fat](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983918,00.html), and a 2006 cover [exonerating eggs](http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,991517,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2912207/info-about-saturated-fat-and-sugar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2912207/info-about-saturated-fat-and-sugar/"},"headline":"Don't Blame Fat: Sources for Further Reading on the Healthy-Diet Debate","datePublished":"2014-06-23T22:00:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:34:19.424Z","description":"More to read about the changing American diet","url":"https://time.com/2912207/info-about-saturated-fat-and-sugar/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","fat","Sugar","saturated fat"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bryan Walsh","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/bryan-walsh/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2912207/info-about-saturated-fat-and-sugar/","name":"Don't Blame Fat: Sources for Further Reading on the Healthy-Diet Debate"}}]}] ```