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

by Jason Fung

So what can you do about dessert? Follow the example of traditional societies. The best desserts are fresh seasonal fruits, preferably locally grown. A bowl of seasonal berries or cherries with whipped cream is a delicious way to end a meal. Alternatively, a small plate of nuts and cheeses also makes for a very satisfying end to a meal, without the burden of added sugars.

Are snacks necessary? No. Simply ask yourself this question. Are you really hungry or just bored? Keep snacks completely out of sight. If you have a snack habit, replace that habit loop with one that is less destructive to your health. Perhaps a cup of green tea in the afternoon should be your new habit. There’s a simple answer to the question of what to eat at snack time. Nothing. Don’t eat snacks. Period. Simplify your life.

Don’t eat sugared breakfast cereal. If you must, eat cereals containing less than 0.8 of a teaspoon (4 grams) of sugar per serving.

In thinking about what to eat for breakfast, consider this: If you are not hungry, don’t eat anything at all. It’s perfectly acceptable to break your fast at noon with grilled salmon and a side salad. But there’s nothing inherently wrong with eating breakfast in the morning either. It is just like any other meal. However, in the morning rush, many people tend to reach for conveniently prepackaged, heavily processed and heavily sugared foods. Eat whole, unprocessed foods at all meals, including breakfast. And if you don’t have time to eat? Then don’t eat. Again, simplify your life.

STEP 2: REDUCE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF REFINED GRAINS

Whole wheat and whole grains are an improvement over white flour, containing more vitamins and fiber. The bran fiber helps protect against the insulin spikes. However, whole-grain flour is still highly processed in a modern flourmill. Traditional stone-mill grinding is preferable. The ultrafine particles produced by modern milling techniques ensure rapid absorption of flour, even whole-wheat flour, by the intestine, which tends to increase the insulin effect.

Avoid processed bakery foods that are mostly flour and other starches: bread, bagels, English muffins, roti, naan breads, dinner rolls, bread sticks, Melba toasts, crackers, tea biscuits, scones, tortillas, wraps, muffins, cookies, cakes, cupcakes and donuts. Pasta and noodles of all varieties are also concentrated sources of refined carbohydrates; reduce these to a minimum. The whole-grain pastas that are now widely available are a better choice, though far from ideal.

Eggplant, kale, spinach, carrots, broccoli, peas, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, asparagus, bell peppers, zucchini, cauliflower, avocados, lettuce, beets, cucumbers, watercress, cabbage, among others, are all extremely healthy carbohydrate-containing foods.

STEP 3: MODERATE YOUR PROTEIN CONSUMPTION

moderate the amount of protein in your diet to fall within 20 percent to 30 percent of your total calories.

STEP 4: INCREASE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF NATURAL FATS

STEP 5: INCREASE YOUR CONSUMPTION OF PROTECTIVE FACTORS

THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE 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.

To succeed, we must break the insulin-resistance cycle. But how? The body’s knee-jerk reaction to insulin resistance is to increase insulin levels, which, in turn, creates even more resistance. 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.

Hippocrates wrote, “To eat when you are sick, is to feed your illness.”

Blood is shunted to your digestive system to cope with the huge influx of food, leaving less blood for brain function. Fasting does the opposite, leaving more blood for your brain.

What we’re describing here is the process the body undergoes to switch from burning glucose (short term) to burning fat (long term). Fat is simply the body’s stored food energy. In times of food scarcity, stored food (fat) is naturally released to fill the void. The body does not “burn muscle” in an effort to feed itself until all the fat stores are used. It’s crucial to note that all these beneficial adaptive changes do not occur in the caloric-reduction diet strategy.

Regular fasting, by routinely lowering insulin levels, has been shown to significantly improve insulin sensitivity.8 This finding is the missing piece in the weight-loss puzzle.

Forty-eight hours of fasting produces a 3.6 percent increase in metabolic rate,15 not the dreaded metabolic shutdown so often seen in caloric-reduction strategies. In response to a four-day fast,16 resting energy expenditure increased up to 14 percent. Rather than slowing metabolism, the body revs it up instead. Presumably, it does this so we have energy to go out and find more food.

Alternate daily fasting over seventy days decreased body weight by 6 percent, but fat mass decreased by 11.4 percent. Lean mass (including muscle and bone) did not change at all.

Studies of eating a single meal per day18 found significantly more fat loss, compared to eating three meals per day, despite the same caloric intake. Significantly, no evidence of muscle loss was found.

The other persistent myth of starvation mode is that it causes our basal metabolism to decrease severely and our bodies to shut down. This response, if it were a fact, would also be highly disadvantageous to survival of the human species. If periodic starvation caused our metabolism to decrease, then we would have less energy to hunt or gather food. With less energy, we would be less likely to get food. So, another day passes, and we become even weaker, making us even less likely to get food—a vicious and unsurvivable cycle. It’s stupid. There are, in fact, no species of animal, humans included, that have evolved to require three meals a day, everyday.

Average yearly weight gain in North Americans is about 1.3 pounds (0.6 kilograms), but that increase is not constant. The year-end holiday period produces a whopping 60 percent of this yearly weight gain in just six weeks.

Fasting can be combined with any diet imaginable. It makes no difference whether you don’t eat meat, dairy or gluten. You can still fast. Eating grass-fed, organic beef is healthy, but can be prohibitively expensive. Fasting contains no hidden costs, but instead saves you money. Eating only homemade, prepared-from-scratch meals is also undoubtedly healthy, but can often be prohibitively time-consuming in our hectic lives. Fasting comes with no time constraints, but instead saves time. No time is required for shopping, food preparation, eating or cleanup.

Many people note that as they fast, appetite does not increase, but rather starts to decrease. During longer fasts, many people notice that their hunger completely disappears by the second or third day.

I get headaches when I fast. What can I do? As above, try increasing your salt intake. Headaches are quite common the first few times you try a fast. It is believed that they’re caused by the transition from a relatively high-salt diet to very low salt intake on fasting days. Headaches are usually temporary, and as you become accustomed to fasting, this problem often resolves itself. In the meantime, take some extra salt in the form of broth or mineral water.

Intermittent fasting tips 1Drink water: Start each morning with a full eight-ounce glass of water. 2Stay busy: It’ll keep your mind off food. It often helps to choose a busy day at work for a fast day. 3Drink coffee: Coffee is a mild appetite suppressant. Green tea, black tea and bone broth may also help.

4Ride the waves: Hunger comes in waves; it is not continuous. When it hits, slowly drink a glass of water or a hot cup of coffee. Often by the time you’ve finished, your hunger will have passed. 5Don’t tell everybody you are fasting: Most people will try to discourage you, as they do not understand the benefits. A close-knit support group is beneficial, but telling everybody you know is not a good idea. 6Give yourself one month: It takes time for your body to get used to fasting. The first few times you fast may be difficult, so be prepared. Don’t be discouraged. It will get easier. 7Follow a nutritious diet on non-fast days: Intermittent fasting is not an excuse to eat whatever you like. During non-fasting days, stick to a nutritious diet low in sugars and refined carbohydrates.

8Don’t binge: After fasting, pretend it never happened. Eat normally, as i...

Stress relief is an active process. Meditation, tai chi, yoga, religious practice and massage are all good choices. Regular exercise is an excellent way to relieve stress and lower cortisol levels. The original intent of the fight-or-flight response was to mobilize the body for physical exertion. Exercise can also release endorphins and improve mood.