The Obesity Code

Friday, Feb.10, 2017: ⬇0.8 lbs this week, ⬇10.1 lbs this year, ⬇ 16.4 lbs over all.

A few weeks ago, I sung the praises of Gary Taubes's Why We Get Fat (And What to Do About It). I stand by that recommendation; Taubes is a great writer and a great researcher, and the book really did change the way I see food and nutrition.

But allow me to add another book into the mix: Dr. Jason Fung's The Obesity Code.  I finally got around to reading it last week (had to wait for my Audible credit), and I must say, I devoured it.

Fung is a practicing nephrologist (kidney doc -- I looked it up), who came to the practice of weight loss almost by accident.  He was seeing so many patients with weight problems that were influencing their other health issues, that he felt he had to dive deep into the research and find a way to help these folks.  What he found, in a nutshell:

• Obesity is a disease of the hormones -- specifically, insulin.  ("I can make you fat," he says.  Lab tests prove that if you give someone a shot of insulin every day, that person will gain weight).
• Some people seem to be more prone to producing insulin than others.  That is, genetics play a role -- maybe as much as 70%.
• Anything that raises insulin, causes weight gain.
• Eating food raises insulin, especially carbohydrates. (To a lesser degree, protein, and fat hardly at all).

Based on these facts (which are scientifically proven in controlled, double-blind human studies -- the gold standard of scientific research), he recommends a number of steps.  One is to reduce sugars and sweeteners (for reasons we still don't understand, even artificial sweeteners like stevia and xylitol raise insulin just as much as real sugar) and starches.  The LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) diet seems the way to go.  Another is to stop snacking.  A third is to try "intermittent fasting" -- increasing the time between meals to allow your insulin to fall back down.  

If you've read Gary Taubes, a lot of this book will be familiar territory.  If not, The Obesity Code is a more readable, common-sense overview of the science, and I have to say, you're probably better off starting here.   

For myself, I've been dipping my toe into the fasting water by tracking the time I finish dinner and the time I eat breakfast, and trying to stretch that, little by little.  I'm not sure I want to get into the 24- and 36-hour fasts that he discusses -- that seems a bit extreme.  But so far I've kept off the 7 lbs that I lost when I was sick with the plague last week, and a little more.  Will keep you posted, dear reader -- after all, I try this crazy stuff so you don't have to!