I decided to write Why We Get Fat largely because of two common responses that I received to Good Calories, Bad Calories.
The first comes from those researchers who made an effort to understand the arguments [I made] ... Even if these researchers do see the need to address the problem immediately, though, they have other obligations and legitimate interests elswhere... With luck, the ideas discussed in [GC,BC] may be rigorously tested in the next twenty years. If confirmed, it will be another decade or so after that, at least, before our public-health authorities actively change their official explanation for why we get fat, how that leads to illness, and what we have to do to avoid or reverse those fates.
The other response I get frequently is from those lay readers, as well as an encouraging number of physicians, nutritionists, researchers, and health administrators who ... found the logic [in GC, BC] and the evidence compelling, and embraced the message. ... These comments, e-mails, and letters have often come with a request. [GC, BC] is lengthy (nearly five hundred pages), dense with science and historical context, and densely annotated, all of which I believe was necessary to initiate a meaningful dialog with the experts and assure that they (or any reader) take nothing I say on trust alone. The book demands that the reader devote considerable time and attention to following the evidence and the arguments. For this reason, many ... asked me to write ... one that their husbands or wives, their aging parents, or their friends and siblings can read without difficulty. ... a book that doesn't require such an investment of time and effort.
