Ah, I see. I didn't mean to call you out or anything. The focus on carbs and insulin resistance is an interesting response to the low-fat 'phase' of American nutrition. But while recognizing that there were flaws in previous ways of thinking is a good thing, the response in popular culture tends to be a "That was bad? Let's do the opposite!" leading to the current climate of carb-phobia. Both Guyenet and Minger touch on this, in their own ways. Guyenet points out that the meter in our brain (I forget what he called it, but basically a 'thermostat' that responds to hormones emitted by fat cells) that determines our body's favored adiposity level responds to high protein - researchers studying low-fat or low-carb diets often rebalance with higher protein levels, leading to what looks on the outside to be conflicting information about fat vs carb, but is really more about protein.
Minger has a long post (supposedly first in a series, but 2nd hasn't come out yet) "
In Defense of Low Fat". She points out research incoherence (like studies that call 30% caloric intake of fat "low-fat"), but also some interesting pieces of evidence like a medical diet of 95% rice and fruit that lead to large weight loss and increased insulin resistance/lower rates of diabetes. It reminds me a little of the "mediterranean paradox" during the low-fat phase when people seemed to be confused by how healthy europeans who ate tons of butter and olive oil were. This is the paradox on the low-carb side of the fence. A lot of the evidence seems to show you can half your sugar, or you can have your fat, but combining both in intensely cravable foods like cake doesn't work out well.
So far the neuroscience outlook makes the most sense to me. For anyone who wants the takeaways without reading Guyenet's book, here's my summary-of-his-summary of tips. Most of them work through multiple pathways, and can be linked in some way to that adiposity-thermostat in the brain, but that's also why you get so much variety in how people respond to dieting and exercise.
1. Increasing how much protein you eat
2. Eating less rewarding foods (sorry, boring food wins out) and limiting exposure to junk food advertisements
3. Exercising
4. Managing stress
5. Sleeping enough
6. Make eating less convenient (food should take some effort to prepare, even if it's just having to peel the orange first)