In the late 1970s when the government mandated we get the fat out of our food, the food industry responded by pouring more sugar in. The result has been a perfect storm, disastrously altering our biochemistry and driving our eating habits out of our control. To help us lose weight and recover our health, Lustig presents personal strategies to readjust the key hormones that regulate hunger, reward, and stress; and societal strategies to improve the health of the next generation. Compelling, controversial, and completely based in science, Fat Chance debunks the widely held notion to prove "a calorie is NOT a calorie," and takes that science to its logical conclusion to improve health worldwide.

Introduction: Time to think outside the box -- A fallacy of biblical proportion -- A calorie is a calorie ... or is it? -- Personal responsibility versus the obese six-month-old -- Gluttony and sloth: Behaviors driven by hormones -- Food addiction: Fact or fallacy -- Stress and "comfort food" -- The birth, care, and feeding of a fat cell -- The difference between "fat" and "sick" -- Metabolic syndrome: The new scourge -- The omnivore's curse: Low fat versus low carb -- Fructose: The "toxin" -- Fiber: Half the antidote -- Exercise: The other half of the antidote -- Micronutrients: Home run or hyperbole? -- Environmental "obesogens" -- The "empire" strikes back: Response of the food industry -- Altering your food environment -- Altering your hormonal environment -- Last resorts: When altering your environment isn't enough -- The "nanny state": Personal versus societal responsibilities -- What halth government wrought? -- A call for global sugar reduction -- Epilogue: Not a top-down but a bottom-up movement.