Intermittent Fasting Dr Jason Fung

The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss

Why you've never been able to lose weight, and how that can change now Everything you believe about how to lose weight is wrong. Weight gain and obesity are driven by hormones--in everyone--and only by understanding the effects of insulin and insulin resistance can we achieve lasting weight loss. In this highly readable and provocative book, Dr. Jason Fung sets out an original, robust theory of obesity that provides startling insights into proper nutrition. In addition to his five basic steps, a set of lifelong habits that will improve your health and control your insulin levels, Dr. Fung explains how to use intermittent fasting to break the cycle of insulin resistance and reach a healthy weight--for good. "Fung zeroes in on why insulin resistance has become so prevalent and offers specific outside-the-box solutions that have emerged as the key to maximizing health."--Jimmy Moore, author, Keto Clarity and Cholesterol Clarity 

Dr. Fung if you revise this book can you include a chapter on emotional eating? A lot of the advice was matter-of-fact like I can just flip a switch & won't crave ice cream anymore. Sometimes it IS that simple (e.g. I am fasting more than ever; it really hasn't been nearly as hard as my brain made it out to be.) In a general sense there's an emotional attachment to food that I feel was overlooked in the book. Thanks.

Fung gives us a narrative to show that doctors were making the claim that too many carbs led to obesity as early as the 19th Century, but these claims were eclipsed by the non-scientific Eat Low Fat, Watch Your Calories Diet, which Fung shows does not work. No amount of willpower can fulfill the expectations of a low-fat, low-calorie diet because carbohydrates high on the Glycemic Index stimulate insulin and high insulin results in two horrible things: fat storage and constant hunger.

Fung makes it very clear that lowering one's insulin mostly by eliminating all processed sugar and carbs and eating in their place whole foods one can control one's appetite, which goes off the tracks when one eats breads, waffles, pancakes, pasta, etc. This research is also supported by Dr. Robert Lustig, author of Fat Chance.

The book does not offer extensive prescriptions for daily amount of carbs or detailed menu plans, so I read some other books on achieving a state of ketosis for weight loss, and what I find is that the prescribed carbs per day tends to differ. For strict "orthodox" ketogenic, low-carb champions, such as Amy Ramos, author of The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners, the amount is usually a mere 20-50 for the "first phase" followed by a maintenance level between 75-100 grams. However, some authors, such as Michael Matthews, author of Bigger, Leaner, and Stronger, say one can eat as many as 150 "good" carbs a day, or even more for some. By good carbs, I am referring to carbs from whole foods, not processed flour and sugar. Some authors, such as Amy Ramos, will say you can't eat quinoa, sweet potatoes, beans, or legumes of any kind, but other authors, such as Michael Matthews, are less dogmatic on this point.

From reading The Obesity Code, I would suggest one experiment to find the right carb threshold and correct mix of ingredients since Dr. Fung, Dr. Lustig, and others seem to differ on this point.

Additionally, I'd say one should experiment with the sweet potatoes, quinoa, beans, and legumes. If one isn't making weight loss goals with these ingredients, then take them off one by one.

One point that Fung makes that is in contradiction with a lot of nutritional advice I've heard over the decades is that snacking is usually a bad thing because we are constantly stimulating our insulin. Fung observes that the low-carb craze of 2004 sank, not because low-carb diets don't work, but because the snack industry got involved and created all sorts of low-carb snacks, including chips, protein bars, and other snack foods, and this constant snacking kept people's insulin at a high level and brought in too many calories.

Fung seriously examines the benefits of long durations between meals and encourages eating only 3 meals a day, and even fasting every now and then. However, he is not dogmatic. He points out that if one must snack, one must be careful to focus on whole foods and not processed "snack foods."

By focusing on the role of insulin and showing that "being fat makes you fat" because a fat person is in a constant state of high insulin and high appetite state, Fung has made me very mindful of the carbs I put into my body. Highly recommended.

Update:

I've been following The Obesity Code, eliminating sugar, gluten, potatoes, and rice, for the last 6 months, and I have lost 50 pounds. My neuropathy burning pain in my left foot is 100% gone. I'm a believer in this book, and I will be adhering to it for life.

                                Dr Jason Fung-Intermittent Fasting 

As an Amazon Associate, I a small commission earn from qualifying purchases.

Dr. Jason Fung, MD

Dr. Jason Fung is a Canadian nephrologist. He’s a world-leading expert on intermittent fasting and low carb, especially for treating people with type 2 diabetes. He has written three best-selling health books and he co-founded the Intensive Dietary Management program.

Dr. Fung has his own website at IDMprogram.com.

Dr. Fung graduated from the University of Toronto and completed his residency at the University of California, Los Angeles. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Fung, a nephrologist who authored the books The Obesity Code and The Complete Guide to Fasting, is one of the most vocal advocates of intermittent fasting, having seen its effects in his type 2 diabetes patients. But there is a big difference between starvation and fasting, he notes. “Fasting is voluntary and controlled,” whereas starving is not, he says. “It’s the difference between running for fun and running because a lion is chasing after you.”

                         Jason Fung Videos on YouTube