That doesn’t grab your attention. Or does it?
Who cares about what you already know? Attention always goes to the latest exotic superfood or which food is the villain – is it fat or sugar now?
Yet, those who are curious wish to have what they know be confirmed.
Since I am in that camp, the following is what is shared by Dr. Jason Fung, MD. He wrote the book The Obesity Code, based on his years of research on weight loss and heading off the physical medical consequences of diabetes.
The Basics
There are five basic steps in weight loss:
- Reduce your consumption of added sugars.
- Reduce your consumption of refined grains.
- Moderate your protein intake.
- Increase your consumption of natural fats.
- Increase your consumption of fiber and vinegar.
The meaning and application of some of these could use to be clarified, but you get the idea.
Is this enough?
This diet strategy can work in the short term for most people. However, long term, the pattern usually goes that after an initial weight loss, there is a plateau of staying the same weight. Finally there is the dreaded weight gain, sometimes to a greater number than before starting the weight loss diet!
The regaining of weight is due to the fact that what you eat is only half of the equation, according to Dr. Fung. By changing the foods that we eat, we only address the first step of weight loss. Unless we take the second step, we will not reset the high body set weight point, undermining our efforts to eat less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff.
What happens when we only change what we eat is that we get hungrier. Our metabolism gradually decreases, then gets to the point that it becomes less than the energy we intake through our foods. This leads to the plateau in weight, then the inevitable weight gain.
What’s missing?
To break this cycle, we must understand that insulin resistance is what got us where we are. We need to bring down the high levels of circulating insulin that is part of insulin resistance in order to lose weight and keep it off.
Insulin resistance is the end result of a production of high levels of insulin in response to high levels of sugar in the blood, which did come from what we ate in the past. Since cells are damaged by too much insulin coming into them, the cells withdraw some of their insulin receptors to protect themselves. This makes the cells “resistant” to the insulin, as they do no accept entry as much as previously.
The cells refusing to accept in insulin, then, leaves the insulin circulating in the bloodstream, giving high levels of insulin. Because the body detects that cells are not receiving the sugar to burn as fuel, it releases more insulin to carry the blood sugar into the cell. That escalates the problem.
Blood sugar remains high because it is not carried into the cell with insulin. Because of this, we have double trouble, because both high blood sugar and high insulin cause damage.
To address the high level of insulin, we need to stop signalling the body to release it. All food signals insulin release, albeit some foods more than others. That is why changing what you eat only goes so far in addressing the problem.
What’s the answer?
We need to find some way to lower the insulin level for stretches of time. Since eating, no matter what, will not do it, it leaves us with not eating, or fasting. Done right, fasting will bring down the insulin levels and reverse insulin resistance.
Dr. Fung has found in his clinics that fasting for twenty-four to thirty-six hours is a very effecting way to reverse insulin resistance and take the second necessary step for weight loss. Practically, what that looks like is stopping eating after dinner and not eating until dinnertime the next day. The longer fast involves skipping a whole day of eating, by not eating after dinner one night and waiting to eat until the second day for breakfast.
That is a simplistic outline, and it is important to plan what you eat when you do take meals and what to drink while you are fasting. On Dr. Fung’s Intensive Dietary Management website, there is a plethora of information. The Quickstart Guide to Fasting is an essential free download for starting right.
Isn’t Fasting Harmful?
There are many myths about fasting. They include:
- I will get dizzy and lightheaded from low blood sugar.
- I will lose muscle mass.
- I will be in starvation mode with a lowered metabolic rate, making me tired and cold.
- I will be overwhelmed with hunger.
- I will overeat when I stop the fast.
- I will be deprived of nutrients.
Dr. Fung explores the science behind why none of these are true in his book The Obesity Code.
In fact, people can exercise while fasting, unless they are diabetics on insulin.
People can show up at work with a clear head and better memory while fasting.
People can pretty much follow their normal routine while fasting.
Have you fasted for at least a day or more? Share your experience in the comments below.
