My sweet heart : the health effects of a century-long love affair

“As gripping as a thriller and accessible for people without any scientific education,” wrote the biggest Swedish broadsheet, Dagens Nyheter,when My Sweet Heart was released in 2012. The book has been fundamental in the rise of the low-carb movement in Sweden, where the debate surrounding low-fat diets has been raging for almost a decade.

Inspired by a woman with type 2 diabetes who, using a strict low-carb diet, was able to stop taking insulin injections and lost 42 kilos in weight, science writer Ann Fernholm, PhD in Molecular Biotechnology, started to examine the science behind low-fat dietary advice. Why should people who need injections to reduce blood sugar fill their plates with carbohydrates that raise blood sugar levels? Like a mystery writer she unravels the story of how, in the mid-1900s, research took a wrong turn. Piece by piece, she also puts together the puzzle surrounding ill health. Why are abdominal fat and type 2 diabetes so dangerous? Why do they increase the risk of heart disease, cancer and dementia? What she discovers is that high blood sugar and high insulin levels are real villains in many major public health problems.

Readers appreciate Ann Fernholm for her factual depth, at the same time as she has a unique ability to describe science in an understandable, lively manner. My Sweet Heart has received unanimously good reviews in Sweden and has been a turning point in many people’s lives.