This episode features Dr Jason Fung, a Nephrologist (Kidney Doctor) who has spent over 25 years researching the best way to fix obesity and chronic disease like diabetes, heart disease, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and insulin resistance.
In this episode Dr Fung discusses the cause of obesity and how hormones play a vital role in fat storage and weight gain. Dr Fung discusses the difference between hormonal theory and the calorie theory, pertaining to the best way to lose adipose fat, and regain metabolic health.
Dr Fung discusses the key hormone of insulin, and how elevated levels of insulin in the body leads to chronic inflammation and physiology how this happens. Dr Fung explains how certain foods we eat, elevate insulin and cause us to store fat in the fat cells. And while what we eat matters, when we eat is also important to release adipose tissue (body fat).
Dr Fung discusses the role of intermittent fasting, extended fasting and autophagy to reduce inflammation, and why the consumption of too much protein can inhibit autophagy and mitophagy. Dr Fung also discusses the benefits of fasting to lower insulin and regulate blood sugar, as well as the best fasting lengths.
Dr Fung also discusses the role of common weight loss medications like Ozempic and their effect of weight loss and insulin resistance.
This episode is important for anyone who is overweight, those who have tried every diet or count calories and failed, and who seek to know the science behind how to lose weight and keep it off. You will learn the science of lipolysis (how the body burns fat) and effective dietary and lifestyle protocols to improve metabolic health and fix obesity.
Journal Articles
- Effects Of Fasting On Weight Loss
- Time Restricted Eating On Weight Loss
- 8 Hour Feeding Window and Cardiovascular Risk (Article)
- Intermittent Fasting To Reverse Diabetes (Study)
- Ozempic Effects On Insulin Resistance & Diabetes (Study)
- Autophagy To Prevent Cancer (Study In Journal Of Nature)
Books
- The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss (Dr Jason Fung)
- The Diabetes Code: : Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally (Dr Jason Fung)
Related 5 Minute Body Episodes
- Cynthia Thurlow: Intermittent Fasting For Health & Weight Loss: How To Get Faster Results
- Dr Ben Bikman: The Surprising Scientific Way To Burn Belly Fat Fast
- Dr David Unwin: Avoid 20 Foods To Prevent Diabetes
About Dr Jason Fung
An early proponent of the now-popular fasting lifestyle, Dr. Fung is often called the founder of intermittent fasting, and is regularly “cited to provide scientific legitimacy for a diet that can seem outlandish to the unfamiliar” (Quartz). As a young nephrologist (kidney doctor) working with patients whose type 2 diabetes had led to kidney disease, Dr. Fung saw a clear relationship between prescribed insulin medication and weight gain, an observation that led him to intermittent fasting as a way to lower insulin and force the body to burn fat as energy.
Today, Dr. Fung has prescribed intermittent fasting and a low carb diet to thousands of patients who have seen results that include reversal of type 2 diabetes, weight loss, and overall higher quality of life and wellbeing. In 2016, Dr. Fung published one of the first popular science books to recommend intermittent fasting for weight loss, The Obesity Code, which went on to sell over 2 million copies worldwide. Next, he published The Diabetes Code, which lays out his foundational approach to type 2 diabetes prevention and reversal. A New York Times-bestselling author, Dr. Fung has written numerous other books on disease prevention including The PCOS Plan, and The Cancer Code.
Dr. Fung completed medical school at the University of Toronto and a fellowship in nephrology at UCLA. He continues to practice nephrology in Toronto, where he is also the co-founder of The Fasting Method, a program that helps patients lose weight and reverse their type 2 diabetes naturally.
