““Harcombe explained in detail why CICO is an inadequate model, not least because it contradicts one of the laws of thermodynamics. Tongue-in-cheek, she quoted US science writer Gary Taubes: ‘We woke up somewhere around this point and decided to become greedy and lazy. We had managed to stay slim for three and a half million years, but suddenly 30 per cent of us became obese and almost 70 per cent of us overweight or obese.’ The reality, Harcombe said, is that since the guidelines were introduced, obesity has more than doubled and diabetes has increased sevenfold in the US. In the UK, obesity has increased almost tenfold, and diabetes four- to fivefold. Referring to South Africa’s sky-rocketing obesity rates in the wake of the official dietary guidelines, Harcombe wrote at the end of her thesis that this ‘at least deserves examination’.””
