Blog

5

1

While visiting family over Thanksgiving, I pulled down and started thumbing through a paperback book from 1974 entitled "Nourishing your Unborn Child" by Phyllis Williams, RN. The nutrition section, when discussing fat, said the following:

There has been a great deal of controversy recently on the role of fats in the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. Some physicians have been recommending lowering fat intake, using polyunsaturated fats and limiting cholesterol-containing foods as a means of preventing these diseases. In fact, as Dr. John Yudkin has pointed out, there is a far clearer relationship between sugar consumption and coronary heart disease. Also, our bodies manufacture cholesterol from any food source, so limiting the intake of cholesterol-containing foods is not necessarily the answer. Cholesterol is necessary to the functioning of our bodies, being used in the manufacture of sex hormones, vitamin D and bile.

Along with marveling at the current cultural amnesia evidenced by this quote (and whole book, really), it made me wonder if finding a way to procure John Yudkin's books Sweet and Dangerous and Pure, White and Deadly which are out of print, super expensive, and not to be found in a single library in my state is worth it. Anyone ever read them? Are they interesting only in a historical context or do they go beyond that?


UPDATE (4/23/2012) : I have become unhappy with Mediafire's PDF hosting abilities--the copy of PW&D that I had originally uploaded appears to have been corrupted--sorry for anyone who tried to get it and found only a muddy jumbled mess. I have uploaded it as a google doc and you can find it here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2FsXfJXQyd2QnNWYWpHQVJfLXM. If you have any problem, feel free to e-mail me (amanda.stjohn@goddard DOT edu) and I can re-upload. (It is going to say "Sorry, we are unable to scan this file for viruses. The file exceeds the maximum size that we scan." I can assure you I am not trying to infect you with any nasties--it is just a big file. Please feel safe to "download anyway.")

flag
3 
The copy I'm reading now is from a local university library. It's an easy and interesting read, and works a good balance between stating fact and suggesting hypotheses. Some things he's got totally wrong (ie, cal in/cal out). Biggest concern is he's eerily saying the same things Lustig and Taubes are saying. But the timing doesn't make sense. This book came BEFORE McGovern and Co... something doesn't add up about the timing of the obesity epidemic. I wonder if environmental toxins (not dietary) have more effect than Taubes and others (except maybe Dr. Mercola) believe. – Lauren Jun 28 2011 at 15:32
You are a star, Amanda. Been looking for this everywhere! – Jon Thoroddsen Dec 13 2011 at 23:25

21 Answers

4

John Yudkin's book Pure, White and Deadly is extremely difficult to find. I think wikisend is playing some games and exchanged the original link above with another that contains baby pictures. Here's a new link to the file:

http://wikisend.com/download/294454/John%20Yudkin%20-%20Pure,%20White%20and%20Deadly

After reading this book, you will become a Yudkin acolyte. Enjoy (until wikisend changes the link again).

link|flag
thanks a million for the updated link! i made sure to save it this time around. as cute as babies are, i like this better! – amanda May 26 2011 at 20:47
dead already...... – The Quilt Jul 15 2011 at 11:37
4

John Yudkin's book Pure, White and Deadly is extremely difficult to find. I found it here:

http://wikisend.com/download/368810/John%20Yudkin%20-%20Pure,%20White%20and%20Deadly

After reading this book, you will become a Yudkin acolyte. Enjoy.

link|flag
Thanks for the link! – rob Mar 11 2011 at 4:33
awesome! thanks so much. – amanda Mar 12 2011 at 19:20
Wikisend has changed the link above to another containing baby pictures. Here's a new link to the correct file: wikisend.com/download/294454/John Yudkin - Pure, White and Deadly – Yudkin Acolyte May 26 2011 at 16:31
3

A few of the many scientific articles written by John Yudkin are available for free. Hopefully all the links will work, some of them are difficult to access.

THE TREATMENT OF OBESITY BY THE "HIGH-FAT" DIET: THE INEVITABILITY OF CALORIES (1960)

Dietary carbohydrate and ischemic heart disease (1963)

SUGAR AND DISEASE (1972)

Carbohydrate confusion (1978)

Carbohydrate confusion (1979)

Diet and coronary heart disease: why blame fat? (1992)

link|flag
thanks, matthew! – amanda Dec 6 2010 at 20:00
2

I wish I could find a reasonably priced copy of Pure White and Deadly, but I've been looking a long time and no dice.

link|flag
1 
bummer. it's going on my unofficial 'books i hope to find in a thrift store buried under the million copies of "i'm ok, you're ok", "the pritikin program" and "low-fat microwave cookery" that thrift stores always have, but probably never will' list. if i strike it rich you can totally borrow it! – amanda Dec 4 2010 at 1:13
2

I downloaded "Yudkin Acolyte's" link and all I got was 76 megs of baby pictures.

Not what I expected.

Was that a joke or a typo in his link?

If it was a joke I'm not amused...

Keith

link|flag
Wikisend has changed the link above to another containing baby pictures. Here's a new link to the correct file: wikisend.com/download/294454/John Yudkin - Pure, White and Deadly – Yudkin Acolyte May 26 2011 at 16:35
thanks for pointing that out. it used to work. this new link did today--i made sure to save it this time. – amanda May 27 2011 at 1:54
Can I ask a Massive favour? that the Pure White & Deadly book be upped again? Maybe to mediafire or a more permanent upload site? – Hassa Nov 16 2011 at 3:04
1

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=john+yudkin&sortby=17&sts=t&x=56&y=12 Some good Yudkin books on page four and five but not the grandaddy Pure, White, Deadly. Sweet is available.

Stephan has blogged about Yudkin: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/08/cleave-and-yudkin-on-fats.html

link|flag
thanks! wow--i can't imagine any diet book today using this as a cover image, although i think it is a pretty accurate depiction of how most people probably feel when groping around for a way of eating that will make them feel better and lose weight: abebooks.com/servlet/FrameBase?content=/en/… – amanda Dec 4 2010 at 1:57
Hi Dexter, I just added the link to Stephan, hope you don't mind. – Paul Mar 10 2011 at 19:38
1

Haven't read it, but I know Peter at Hyperlipid quotes him from time to time. The first link on the

From the first link, I love this paragraph quoting Yudkin-

I have already mentioned Dr Ancel Keys and his pioneer work in relation to diet and heart disease. A year or so ago he wrote a memorandum which he sent to a large number of scientists working in this field and which with very few changes has now been published in a medical journal 'Atherosclerosis'. It consists entirely of a strong criticism - I nearly said virulent criticism - of the work I have published from time to time on the theory that sugar is the main dietary factor involved in causing heart disease

Sugar, not cholesterol. Hmmmmm

link|flag
0

I think GCBC talks a bit about Yudkin's work, if I remember correctly.

link|flag
1 
definitely, i remember Taubes mentioning Yudkin's work in the middleish, or the closing section. – ben61820 Dec 4 2010 at 14:47
yup. up until i read that quote i only thought of yudkin as "that guy taubes and lustig talked about." – amanda Dec 4 2010 at 19:48
0

I have tried to download the book using the links above, but all don't work.

Can someone put up a new link to Pure, White & Deadly?

Thanks

link|flag
here you go: mediafire.com/?ftac1dz5et445q4 this one should hopefully be live for longer. (if i remember to log into my new mediafire acct at least once every 60 days...) – amanda Jul 16 2011 at 0:49
0

@Laurin - Laurin said, "the timing doesn't make sense. This book came BEFORE McGovern and Co... something doesn't add up about the timing of the obesity epidemic. I wonder if environmental toxins (not dietary) have more effect than Taubes and others (except maybe Dr. Mercola) believe."

I am at a disadvantage as I have not read Yudkin. But, I have seen Lustig and Taubes' lectures. Laurin, I would like to know why you believe the timing of the obesity epidemic is not in line with whatever you found in Yudkin's book. Without reading the book, and purely on listening to Lustig and Taubes' lectures, the obesity epidemic tacks well with the increase in sugar consumption that has been going for over a century. Did you mean that the lipid hypothesis, marked by the McGovern report, doesn't account for the previous 50 years of increased obesity?

And your toxin postulation is possible, or could be an exacerbating contributor if sugar is indeed the main culpable agent.

link|flag
0

Can anyone put up a new link to pure white and dangerous,

i am gettinga 404 error

thanx

link|flag
1 
Try here: ebookee.org/Pure-White-and-Deadly_1657735.html – raydawg Jan 5 2012 at 17:27
This one still works for me: mediafire.com/?dfl0rxa6eicsp9c – amanda Jan 6 2012 at 23:47
0

I do have the pdf copy on my laptop. PM me if you're dying to get your hands on it, as I don't like uploading it in random places.

link|flag
0

Thanks Amanda for uploading it, I've been looking everywhere for it!

For those still asking, click this link and download anyway - its a pdf file without a virus https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2FsXfJXQyd2QnNWYWpHQVJfLXM

link|flag
0

THANKS!! Couldn't find this anywhere. This book was featured on the BBC docu: 'The men who made us fat' It looks like the boomerang is coming back on the legacy people who silenced Yudkin.

link|flag
0

My undying gratitude for this link. It downloaded perfectly, today, 16 June 2012. Yudkin's unavailable book should be out there for everyone. Let's hope the BBC documentary, broadcast this week (June 2012) on BBC4, creates a big enough demand to change that. Josephine

link|flag
0

Thanks Amanda,

The BBC doco is amazing.. Unfortunately we have followed the same (fat)al path here in Australia.

link|flag
0

Thank you for the link to the John Yudkin book. I have just discovered that it is to be released again later this year in paperback. The link is http://www.amazon.com/Pure-White-Deadly-John-Yudkin/dp/0241965284/ref=pd_cp_b_3

link|flag
0

thanks for the google doc link for the pdf file!!

link|flag
0

I know this is an old post but if anyone is interested Dr. John Yudkin's book "Pure White and Deadly" is back in print and on sale on Amazon.

link|flag
0

try Amazon UK they have copies for sale

link|flag

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.