Eat Fat, Get Thin

Why the Fat We Eat Is the Key to Sustained Weight Loss and Vibrant Health
by Mark Hyman | Little, Brown and Company © 2016 · 400 pages

Want to reach your optimal weight while preventing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and cancer AND while feeling energized as you live longer? Eat more fat. That’s what Dr. Mark Hyman—one of the world’s leading Functional Medicine doctors—tells us. This book is ridiculously packed with Big Ideas—walking us through the eye-opening science of why fat is awesome along with a plan on how to “reboot our biology to our original factory settings” via a 21-day program followed by a long-term plan to rock it. We explore the surprising truth about fat, good fats vs. bad fats, going pegan (think: best of vegan + Paleo), a quality carb, and dealing with root causes rather than symptoms.


For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie—deliberate, contrived, and dishonest—but the myth— persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
John F. Kennedy

“What is the single best thing you can do for your health, weight, and longevity?

Eat more fat!

That’s right. Eat more fat to lose weight; feel good; prevent heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and cancer; and live longer.

How could that be true? Haven’t we been told by every health and nutritional professional, leading medical associations, and our government to eat less fat because fat makes us fat and causes heart disease? We have faithfully followed this advice in America over the last 50 years and yet are fatter and sicker than ever.

It is true that the fat on our bodies is making us sick and causing us to die too soon. But the seemingly logical leap that the fat we eat creates the fat on our bodies and clogs our arteries is wrong. … The whole idea, which we have bought wholesale, is scientifically untrue. In fact, the science shows the exact opposite. When you look closely at the data, it supports the idea that if you eat fat, you get thin (and reverse heart disease and type 2 diabetes, while preventing dementia, cancer, and other disease processes). The reality is that the more fat you eat, the more fat you lose and the better your body functions.”

~ Mark Hyman M.D. from Eat Fat, Get Thin

Want to reach your optimal weight while preventing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia and cancer AND while feeling energized as you live longer? Eat more fat.

I actually laughed as I typed that—as it sounds absurd (especially for a recovering low-fat vegan who wouldn’t have even been willing to read this book 5 years ago). Yet, the overwhelming amount of scientific data says it’s true.

(And, my own personal experience has proven it as well—when I added more fat into my diet (like a lot), my body fat % dropped. It was nuts. Eat fat, get thin.)

Dr. Mark Hyman is one of the world’s leading Functional Medicine doctors. In fact, he is the chairman of the Institute for Functional Medicine and the director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. He’s also the founder of The UltraWellness Center and has helped over 20,000 patients optimize their health over the last several decades. And… He’s written a bunch of New York Times bestselling books and is uber-popular online.

This book is ridiculously packed with Big Ideas—walking us through the eye-opening science of why fat is awesome along with a plan on how to “reboot our biology to our original factory settings” via a 21-day program followed by a long-term plan to rock it. (Get the book here and check out our Notes on Always Hungry? + Grain Brain for more, related wisdom.)

For now, I’m excited to share some of my favorite Big Ideas so let’s jump straight in!

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About the author

Authors

Mark Hyman

10X NY Times bestseller, dedicated to transforming healthcare.