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

by Jason Fung

So we must acknowledge the phenomenon of time dependence. Obesity at age seventeen has consequences that reach decades into the future.1 Any comprehensive theory of obesity must be able to explain why its duration matters so much. High insulin levels cause weight gain. Food choices play a role in raising insulin levels. But we are missing yet another pathway that increases insulin, one that is both time dependent and independent of diet: insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is Lex Luthor. It is the hidden force behind most of modern medicine’s archenemies, including obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. But while Lex Luthor is fictional, the insulin resistance syndrome, also called the metabolic syndrome, is not.