Book Review: The Obesity Code by Jason Fung

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“The Obesity Code” is a non-fiction book exploring the link between insulin resistance, fasting, and obesity. It is not a diet book but a book that promises to change the way you look at diets and weight loss.

Buy “The Obesity Code”

As I’ve mentioned, “The Obesity Code” is not a diet book – it is a book you read to understand the hoax that is our diet culture. It is a book explaining how fasting (and feasting on non-processed foods) can help insulin resistance, which promotes weight loss and reduces the risk of diabetes and obesity.

I have never read a nutrition/fight against obesity and diabetes book as simple and straightforward as “The Obesity Code.” But don’t worry Jason Fung doesn’t skimp out on the complexity of the matter – both scientifically and socially.  

It is indeed true that we are constantly misinformed and fed these new fad diets, especially the one that fails time and time again. You know the one: “Eat Less, Move More.” And now we also have to contend with competing advice such as: you should be snacking (“grazing” throughout the day), you should eat keto, you should eat low-fat, you should and shouldn’t eat X, Y, and Z.

In the end, we all know what true health looks like: more fruits, vegetables, legumes, healthy fats, complex carbohydrates; and less sugars, sweeteners, and processed foods.

Fung presents the research between hormones (such as cortisol, ghrelin, leptin, and insulin) and obesity.

Essentially, obesity is an insulin resistance problem. A problem that persists due to what we eat and how often we eat since both actions spike our insulin.

He explains that by limiting the number of spikes and eating healthier (i.e., less processed), we can prevent diabetes (not the kind you inherit obviously) and obesity.

And the best solution to the problem? Fasting.

Fasting offers the body the chance to improve insulin resistance, and therefore to lose weight and keep it off without engaging in the “calorie in calorie out” mania or the negative metabolic effects of yo-yo dieting.

Dr. Fung is not saying to go carb-free for life nor is he asking his readers to be perfect all of the time. He knows that you’re going to want to eat cake during birthdays. He knows that you’re going to overeat on pleasurable ‘palatable’ processed foods during the holidays. Instead, he reminds us that after such a feast, it is time to fast. It is not a time to starve yourself or cut out entire food groups (Our modern insanity!), nor is it the time to spend 5 hours at the gym.

It is not about what you do those few days of unhealthy eating and those few months of restrictive dieting. Instead, he explains how insulin affects us on a day-to-day, decade-to-decade basis.

All in all, his advice is simple. Simple but impactful in the sea of discouraging and aggravating diet noise we’ve grown accustomed to.

“The failing isn’t ours. The portion-control caloric-reduction diet is virtually guaranteed to fail. Eating less does not result in lasting weight loss.” (p. 41)

“There are two prominent findings from all the dietary studies done over the years. First: all diets work. Second: all diets fail.” (p. 215)

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