Why Calories Don't Count: How we got the science of weight loss wrong

'In this great read, Giles Yeo ruthlessly and amusingly destroys the calorie as our most persistent diet myth.' Tim Spector, author of Spoon-Fed and The Diet Myth

'A tour de force by the wise and witty Professor Giles Yeo. As well as being one of the UK's foremost experts on the genetics of obesity, Professor Yeo knows how to tell a great story. After reading this brilliant book you will understand what the labels on food really tell us, and what they don't.' Michael Mosley, author of The Fast 800

'Giles Yeo knows that when it comes to motivating us to make better food choices, a little understanding goes a long way. He writes with a gift for making the science of diet interesting and a knack for telling us just what we need to know, and not too much more. Here he takes on the demon calories, and shows us why we should neither fear them, nor worship them, and certainly not count them. It's a book that will help you not just to eat better, but to enjoy eating better. And that's got to be worth having on your kitchen shelf.' Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Calorie information is ubiquitous. On packaged food, restaurant menus and online recipes we see authoritative numbers that tell us the calorie count of what we're about to consume. And we treat these numbers as gospel; counting, cutting, intermittently consuming and, if you believe some 'experts' out there, magically making them disappear. We all know, and governments advise, that losing weight is just a matter of burning more calories than we consume.

Here's the thing, however, that most people have no idea about. ALL of the calorie counts that you see everywhere today, are WRONG.

In Why Calories Don't Count Dr Giles Yeo, obesity researcher at Cambridge University, challenges the conventional model and demonstrates that all calories are not created equal. He addresses why popular diets succeed, at least in the short term, and why they ultimately fail, and what your environment has to do with your bodyweight.

Once you understand that calories don't count, you can begin to make different decisions about how you choose to eat, learning what you really need to be counting instead. Practical, science-based and full of illuminating anecdotes, this is the most entertaining dietary advice you'll ever read.