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

by Jason Fung

One of the great pillars of the caloric-reduction theory of obesity—that we eat too much because we choose to—is simply not true. We do not eat too much because we choose to, or because food is too delicious, or because of salt, sugar and fat. We eat too much because our own brain compels us to.

You can’t outrun a poor diet.

Eating more does not make us fat. Getting fat makes us eat more. Overeating was not a personal choice. It is a hormonally driven behavior—a natural consequence of increased hunger hormones.

Increased Calories In and decreased Calories Out (eating more and moving less) does not cause obesity, but is instead the result of obesity.

Was this a giant conspiracy to keep us sick? Doubtful. The large subsidies were simply the result of programs to make food affordable, which began in earnest in the 1970s.

Calories do not drive weight gain, and thus reducing them will not lead to weight loss.

Conflicting reports such as these often generate confusion within nutritional science. One study will show a benefit and another study will show the exact opposite. Generally, the deciding factor is who paid for the study. Researchers looked at seventeen different reviews of sugar-sweetened drinks and weight gain.21 A full 83.3 percent of studies sponsored by food companies did not show a relationship between sugar-sweetened drinks and weight gain. But independently funded studies showed the exact opposite—83.3 percent showed a strong relationship between sugar-sweetened drinks and weight gain.

There are, in fact, no species of animal, humans included, that have evolved to require three meals a day, everyday.