TBH I find Taubes to be somewhat insufferable.

He has latched onto sugar alone as the agent, and insulin as the mechanism, of obesity. Worse: he believes physical activity and / or energy balance to be irrelevant. In all of this, he cherry picks science, uses anecdotes as proof, and uses his skillful mastery of the language to ram the message home in to even the thickest of skulls.

Maybe it's good for society in general to be exposed to thus extremist viewpoint. It certainly has gained traction and thrown a spotlight on the malfeasance that is nutritional advice. In this way maybe the pendulum can start swinging again.

It's so easy to paint a devil mask on a scapegoat. Politicians do it all the time. It is the search for easy answers to complex problems. Most of all in biology and medicine the scientific history has shown as that the better we can see, the more complex the situation appears.

Junk food is more than just complex than just sugar sweetened beverages or refined carbohydrate diets. It is much more likely to be a complex containing elements such as:

• sugar sweetened beverages and highly refined carbohydrate intake
• incomplete and insufficient protein sources
• insufficient variety in fatty acid composition with an overwhelming reliance on n6 PUFA
• prolonged years of slight calorific surplus
• prolonged years without stressors to stimulate adrenaline / exhaust glycogen
• lack of appropriate skeletal muscle mass and strength
• our inbuilt mechanisms favor overeating in times of plenty (food palatability and reward)