WOW... what an interesting thread ... I am currently reading the book, which I must say is a real eyeopener.
I'd like to try to recap what I have gleaned from this thread and add a few thoughts and questions of my own.
One of the most important ideas here is that we have a genetically imprinted range of weight, beyond which our body tries very hard to get back to that target range. The range can be quite large in some, so there is a bit of leeway for up and down movements.
Still the fact remains, that the population at large has become fatter over the last 50 years or more. The question is why, bearing in mind, that we have a genetic disposition to a certain weight range. The answer probably lies in what we eat. Carbohydrates certainly stimulate insulin and this pushes all unused calories into fat cells. But that's only part of the equation. The other part is fat: It seems, we have changed the type of fat that we now eat. Not only are we gorging on carbs, but we have supplemented animal fats for vegetable fats. And on top of that it doesn't seem to matter much how much calories we eat in the end ...
But I still wonder, whether there are not more factors still involved in why people have become fatter, maybe a general lack in certain nutritious components, that the body requests and pushes the "user" to eat until these particular components have been delivered - or other reasons? Toxicity certainly plays its part as well - the fat being the storage place of many toxic substances (mercury etc), so that the body is trying hard not to use the fat, which would also mean that the toxic substances are circulated in the body once again. But this again means that after detoxing you should be able to get rid of these extra pounds.
It seems to me, that the whole physiology of energy production and maintenance of body functions is very much not well understood. Mainstream science for the most part has got it totally wrong. But even the scientist with an open mind looking for clues away from mainstream science seem to really lack the answer: Why are we getting fatter as a whole?
I sometimes wonder if there is not a "cosmic" connection. This might sound a bit strange, but if we postulate, that weight is pretty much predetermined at birth, this begs the question, whether there is not an "intention" behind. Or to put it differently: Do the cosmic changes we are witnessing lead to changes in the body as well, with the effect that a lot of people are putting on weight? Do psychopaths put on weight as well? I am not really able to express my feeling very adequately here, but maybe being fat has some quality, or some benefit (or disadvantage), or is some "sign" for something, that we here on 3D cannot appreciate? I wonder whether we shouldn't expand our search into this direction as well. Maybe the C's have a take on that?
While I feel that most people probably can loose some weight, I know from my own lifelong experience, that whenever I change my eating habits significantly (and like most of you I have done that a number of times in the last few years), I loose weight, maybe 3 to 4 kg, but put them on again over time, despite not relenting in my effort and despite continuing exactly like at the beginning. Looking back over the last 35 years, I have had the same weight give or take 5 - 7 kg. So despite eating carbs and gluten and bad fats up to the eyeballs, or cutting down to get into ketosis (with all the healthy stuff thrown in for good measure), my weight hasn't changed on a major scale.
Maybe I am way off here, so any comment in that regard is most appreciated.