The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss (Why Intermittent Fasting Is the Key to Controlling Your Weight)

by Jason Fung

REFINED GRAINS SUCH as white flour stimulate insulin to a greater degree than virtually any other food. If you reduce your consumption of flour and refined grains, you will substantially improve your weight-loss potential. White flour, being nutritionally bankrupt, can be safely reduced or even eliminated from your diet.

THERE ARE FIVE basic steps in weight loss: 1. Reduce your consumption of added sugars. 2. Reduce your consumption of refined grains. 3. Moderate your protein intake. 4. Increase your consumption of natural fats. 5. Increase your consumption of fiber and vinegar.

LONG-TERM DIETING is futile. After the initial weight loss, the dreaded plateau appears, followed by the even more dreaded weight regain. The body reacts to weight loss by trying to return to its original body set weight.

we’ve been addressing only half of the problem. Long-term weight loss is really a two-step process. Two major factors maintain our insulin at a high level. The first is the foods that we eat—which are what we usually change when we go on a diet. But we fail to address the other factor: the long-term problem of insulin resistance. This problem is one of meal timing.

To break the insulin-resistance cycle, we must have recurrent periods of very low insulin levels.

When we talk about fasting to break insulin resistance and lose weight, we are talking about intermittent fasts of twenty-four to thirty-six hours.

Is it unhealthy? The answer is no. Scientific studies conclude that fasting carries significant health benefits. Metabolism increases, energy increases and blood sugars decrease.

Can you do it? I hear this one all the time. Absolutely, 100 percent yes. In fact, fasting has been a part of human culture since the dawn of our species.