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

by Jason Fung

Researchers and academic physicians, as key opinion leaders, were not to be ignored either. Many health professionals endorse the use of artificial meal-replacement shakes or bars, drugs and surgery as evidence-based diet aids. Forget about eating a whole, unrefined natural-foods diet. Forget about reducing added sugars and refined starches such as white bread. Consider the ingredient list of a popular meal-replacement shake. The first five ingredients are water, corn maltodextrin, sugar, milk protein concentrate and canola oil. This nauseating blend of water, sugar and canola oil does not really meet my definition of healthy. In addition, impartiality—or the lack thereof—can be a serious issue when it comes to publishing medical and health information. The financial-disclosures section of some papers published in journals and on the web can run for more than half a page. Funding sources have enormous influence on study results.3 In a 2007 study that looked specifically at soft drinks, Dr. David Ludwig from Harvard University found that accepting funds from companies whose products are reviewed increased the likelihood of a favorable result by approximately 700 percent! This finding is echoed in the work of Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition and food studies at New York University. In 2001, she concluded that it is “difficult to find studies that did not come to conclusions favoring the sponsor’s commercial interest.”4 The fox, it seemed, was now guarding the hen house....