According to Taubes,

“Any diet that succeeds does so because
the dieter restricts fattening carbohydrates,
whether by explicit instruction or not.

…those who lose on fat on a diet
do so because of what they are not eating
-- the fattening carbohydrates –
not because of what they are eating. “

When we go on any serious weight-loss plan,
whether Diet or Exercise, we always make changes
in what we eat – no matter what instructions we get. 
 We stop eating the most fattening carbohydrates, because
they are the most obviously wrong foods for weight-loss.
We cut down on sodas, beer, fruit juice;
get rid of candy bars, desserts, donuts, cinnamon buns.
Starches like potatoes, rice, white bread, and pasta
are often replaced by green vegetables, salads,
or at least whole grains.

Taubes says,

“Even the very low-fat diet made famous by Dean Ornish
restricts all refined carbohydrates, including sugar,
white rice, and white flour.
This alone could explain any benefits that result.”

Taubes continues.

“If we try to cut any significant number of calories from our diet,
we’ll be cutting the total amount of carbohydrates we consume as well.
This is just arithmetic.

He says

“any time we try to diet by any of the conventional methods,
and any time we decide to “eat healthy” as it’s currently defined,
we will remove the most fattening carbohydrates from the diet,
and if we lose fat,
this will almost assuredly be the reason why.”

Taubes begins

“If you’re predisposed to get fat
and want to be as lean as you can be
without compromising your health,
you have to restrict carbohydrates
and so keep your blood sugar and insulin levels low.

…you don’t lose fat because you cut calories;
you lose fat because you cut out the foods
that make you fat – the carbohydrates.

 If you get down to a weight you like,
and then add those foods back into the diet,
you’ll get fat again.

That only some people get fat from eating carbohydrates 
 (just as only some get lung cancer from smoking cigarettes)

doesn’t change the fact that if you’re one of the ones who do,
you’ll only lose fat and keep it off if you avoid these foods.”

Carbohydrates make us fat and keep us fat,
and those foods are the ones we’re likely to want the most
and would never want to live without.

Taubes says this is no coincidence.

“It’s clear from animal research
that the foods animals prefer to eat in excess
are those that most quickly supply energy to the cells –
easily digestible carbohydrates.”

Another factor is how hungry we are,
because the hungrier we are, the better foods taste.
Taubes says that insulin works to increase our feelings of hunger,
and he provides details of how this works in the body.

He says

“This palatability-by-blood-sugar-and-insulin response
is &h...

 Being born with a tendency toward fat is beyond your control.

Taubes says

“It’s carbohydrates that ultimately determines insulin secretion
and insulin that drives the accumulation of body fat.

Not all of us get fat when we eat carbohydrates,
but for those of us who do get fat,
the carbohydrates are to blame;
the fewer carbohydrates we eat, the leaner we will be.”

He compares this with cigarettes.

“Not every longtime smoker gets lung cancer.
Only one in six men will, and one in nine women.
But for those who do get lung cancer,
cigarette smoke is …the most common cause.

In a world without cigarettes,
lung cancer would be a rare disease, as it once was.
In a world without carbohydrate-rich diets,
obesity would be a rare condition as well.”

 Taubes says a crucial point is that not all foods
containing carbohydrates are equally fattening.
The most fattening foods are the ones with the greatest effect
on our Blood Sugar. He then talks about Blood Sugar issues,
and the Glycemic Index.
Taubes thinks fruit is “worrisome” because

“it is sweet to the taste precisely because it contains a type of
sugar known as fructose, and fructose is uniquely fattening
as carbohydrates go.

Fruit doesn’t have to be processed before we eat it;
it’s fat-free and cholesterol-free; it has vitamins and antioxidants,
and so, by this logic, it must be good for us. Maybe so.
But if we’re predisposed to put on fat, it’s a good bet
that most fruit will make the problem worse, not better.”

He says 

“The very worst foods for us…are sugars – sucrose (table sugar)
and high-fructose corn syrup in particular.
I refer to both of them as sugars,
because t...