[leetrout]

This stood out to me, as well. I don't think everyone fits the mold that any one macro group is good or bad because I think it depends on our gut bacteria (which is potentially as unique as a fingerprint[0]).

I don't deny calories in > calories burnt leads to weight gain but to put it that simply does a disservice to educating people about their bodies and completely ignores the hormones controlling fat storage. "researchers at the National Institutes of Health have shown how insulin prompts fat cells to take in glucose in a rat model". [1]

So does calories in being higher than calories burnt lead to weight gain? Sure. That's thermodynamics. But what about lots of carbs in the diet (even paired with fats) and how that causes a higher insulin response and that then causes easier / more fat storage. I think the research here is clear and compelling. Of course, some people, due to their guts just may not process food the same way and may break it down more completely or be less sensitive to carbs in general.

"In general, the gut microbiota found in obese youth tended to be more efficient at converting carbohydrates to fat compared to the gut flora of normal-weight individuals. This suggests that even with similar caloric intake, obese youth are accumulating more fat compared to lean youth as a result of the composition of their gut microbiota." [1]

[0] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/personal-mi...

[1] https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-study-show...

[2] http://www.livescience.com/56179-gut-bacteria-differ-in-obes...

[another_account]

To be frank I think studies like this give some people an excuse. They become wrapped up in all the other factors beside calories (macro break down, genetics, hormone levels, GI, insulin spikes, meal timing, illness etc) yet ignore what is by far the biggest part of the pie (terrible pun, my apologies) - calories.