The main problem with Taubes, I think, is that he fails to cleanly separate the two issues in question:
Why people have been getting more obese.
How to lose weight.
These are very different problems.
Why have people been gaining weight, on average? The reasons are complicated and Taubes gives important insights (even though, as OP said, his criticism of mainsteam nutrition is unfair).
How to lose weight, though, is a different matter. Every source I consult seems to agree that the reason the Atkins diet works is mainly because it makes it easier to eat less, by severely restricting the types of foods you can eat and also possibly reducing hunger pangs. I have yet to see any study consistent with the idea that a Atkins-type diet inherently makes you lose more weight than a conventional diet from mainstream nutritionists (if you match the number of consumed calories). I’d love to be proven wrong, but it seems that if Atkins works for you, other types of caloric restriction diets will also work, long-term.
The main problem with Taubes, I think, is that he fails to cleanly separate the two issues in question:
Why people have been getting more obese.
How to lose weight.
These are very different problems.
Why have people been gaining weight, on average? The reasons are complicated and Taubes gives important insights (even though, as OP said, his criticism of mainsteam nutrition is unfair).
How to lose weight, though, is a different matter. Every source I consult seems to agree that the reason the Atkins diet works is mainly because it makes it easier to eat less, by severely restricting the types of foods you can eat and also possibly reducing hunger pangs. I have yet to see any study consistent with the idea that a Atkins-type diet inherently makes you lose more weight than a conventional diet from mainstream nutritionists (if you match the number of consumed calories). I’d love to be proven wrong, but it seems that if Atkins works for you, other types of caloric restriction diets will also work, long-term.