wow. what if it's all been a big fat lie? fat, obesity, diets. "In ''The Physiology of Taste,'' for instance, an 1825 discourse considered among the most famous books ever written about food, the French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin says that he could easily identify the causes of obesity after 30 years of listening to one ''stout party'' after another proclaiming the joys of bread, rice and (from a ''particularly stout party'') potatoes. Brillat-Savarin described the roots of obesity as a natural predisposition conjuncted with the ''floury and feculent substances which man makes the prime ingredients of his daily nourishment.'' He added that the effects of this fecula -- i.e., ''potatoes, grain or any kind of flour'' -- were seen sooner when sugar was added to the diet." Brillat-Savarin was writing in French, which begs the question of why so many direct quotations were used, but his wisdom (he's quoted, something like 'show me a man eats, and i will show you what he is,' at the beginning of iron chef) remains unsullied.  ¶ 10:37 PM