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Just looked up his book "The Obesity Code"; not sure if that's the one you're thinking of. Dr. Fung says obesity is a basically a hormonal issue, not a caloric

Just looked up his book "The Obesity Code"; not sure if that's the one you're thinking of. Dr. Fung says obesity is a basically a hormonal issue, not a caloric issue. He discusses a "causality test": "If we inject this hormone into people, they must gain weight". According to Dr. Fung, leptin and ghrelin don't pass this test, but insulin and cortisol do. Still, leptin and insulin appear to have a close relationship. "Insulin promotes fat storage. Leptin reduces fat storage. High levels of insulin should naturally act as an antagonist to leptin. However, the precise mechanisms by which insulin inhibits leptin are yet unknown." He also says that "too much insulin causes obesity" and that "obesity is a state of leptin resistance." (Sorry for that mini book review; I needed to understand what he was saying.) On the fasting point, he's explicitly supportive not of regular fasting but intermittent fasting: "Diets must be intermittent, not steady...we cannot fast all the time. It won't work." Based on my fast read of his work and my own understanding, intermittent fasting keeps leptin levels high enough that the body doesn't kick into calorie restricting mode. One approach which seems to accomplish this is eating close-to-zero carbs five days/week (say, during the week) and then eating lots of carbs two days/week (say, on the weekend). The burst of carbs will cause leptin levels to spike since the body now has tons of available energy. Over the week, the leptin levels will remain elevated, but since you're minimizing carbs, the body will draw energy from adipose tissue.

paulpauper 3y ago
Then why are so many people who are insulin resistant overweight? Yet people with type 1 diabetes tend to be thin. I don't think the connection between insulin and weight is well known, assuming one even exists. It's a basic CICO problem. Whether there is insulin resistance or sensitivity does not change this much. IF his theories actually worked, they would work on general population at fixing obesity, but there is scant evidence it does. Like Tabues and others, he built a career on some theory that falls short when applied to real people in controlled setting.
- waterheater 3y ago
  According to this article [1], many people with type 1 diabetes are also overweight. In fact, the article cites a research study showing that, for those with type 1 diabetes, higher blood glucose levels corresponded to higher weight gain. Clearly, this weight gain isn't CICO-related but is actually related carbohydrates. As far as I understand, people with type 2 diabetes (insulin resistance) have excess glucose in their bloodstream, which becomes easily stored as body fat. Type 2 diabetes seems particularly caused by eating excessive amounts of carbs over a long period of time. In both cases, excessive carbs leads to obesity. The type of calories matters more for obese people trying to lose weight than for healthy people maintaining their weight. [1] https://www.dbl-diabetes.com/all-about-diabetes/food/type-1-diabetes-insulin-weight-gain https://www.dbl-diabetes.com/all-about-diabetes/food/type-1-...
- tonyedgecombe 3y ago
  >Yet people with type 1 diabetes tend to be thin. People with type 1 diabetes need to be conscious of what they are eating in a way the rest of us don't. I'm not sure you can draw much inference from them.

paulpauper 3y ago

Then why are so many people who are insulin resistant overweight? Yet people with type 1 diabetes tend to be thin. I don't think the connection between insulin and weight is well known, assuming one even exists. It's a basic CICO problem. Whether there is insulin resistance or sensitivity does not change this much. IF his theories actually worked, they would work on general population at fixing obesity, but there is scant evidence it does. Like Tabues and others, he built a career on some theory that falls short when applied to real people in controlled setting.

waterheater 3y ago
According to this article [1], many people with type 1 diabetes are also overweight. In fact, the article cites a research study showing that, for those with type 1 diabetes, higher blood glucose levels corresponded to higher weight gain. Clearly, this weight gain isn't CICO-related but is actually related carbohydrates. As far as I understand, people with type 2 diabetes (insulin resistance) have excess glucose in their bloodstream, which becomes easily stored as body fat. Type 2 diabetes seems particularly caused by eating excessive amounts of carbs over a long period of time. In both cases, excessive carbs leads to obesity. The type of calories matters more for obese people trying to lose weight than for healthy people maintaining their weight. [1] https://www.dbl-diabetes.com/all-about-diabetes/food/type-1-diabetes-insulin-weight-gain https://www.dbl-diabetes.com/all-about-diabetes/food/type-1-...
tonyedgecombe 3y ago
>Yet people with type 1 diabetes tend to be thin. People with type 1 diabetes need to be conscious of what they are eating in a way the rest of us don't. I'm not sure you can draw much inference from them.