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QUOTE from Dr Fung (emphasis mine): 

“Long-term weight loss is really a two-step process. Two major factors maintain our insulin at a high level. The first is the foods that we eat—which are what we usually change when we go on a diet. But we fail to address the other factor: the long-term problem of insulin resistance. This problem is one of meal timing. Insulin resistance keeps our insulin levels high. High insulin maintains our high body set weight. Inexorably, our high body set weight erodes our weight-loss efforts. We start feeling hungrier. Our metabolism (that is, our total energy expenditure) relentlessly decreases until it falls below the level of our energy intake. Our weight plateaus and ruthlessly climbs back up to our original body set weight, even as we keep dieting. Clearly, changing what we eat is not always enough. To succeed, we must break the insulin-resistance cycle.” [1]

NOTE (my commentary): When we eat, the body releases insulin to deal with rising glucose in the blood. The amount of glucose is directly related to how much we eat. And for many who are obese, we eat not only far more than our body needs, we consume far more than our body can safely handle.

Just like the rising waters of a flood, glucose rises up in the streets. Like water, it fills every place available, and we keep eating more and it keeps rising. There is a false understanding, according to Dr Fung, that high glucose means that the cells are starved for sugar to burn. The reality is that they are flooded with sugar and can accept no more.

The amount of sugar in the blood is intolerable, so the body increases the amount of insulin to solve the problem. Insulin does two things. It can pressure the cell to accept more sugar that it needs, basically putting sugar in the cell under pressure. But eventually this no longer works, even with more and more insulin building up in the bloodstream in response to ever-increasing amounts of sugar. The cells become insulin resistant in order to protect the cell from too much sugar … and eventually, rising levels of insulin no longer work.

… the long-term problem of insulin resistance … is one of meal timing.

The second job that insulin does is to convert sugar in the blood, flood level high, into visceral fat, which is white fat that’s stored in the abdomen and around all of the major organs, such as the liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestines, and heart. Visceral fat is very unhealthy. It takes a while for insulin to make fat, so blood sugars remain high, causing the amount of insulin in the bloodstream to remain high.

When you overeat, high insulin increases visceral fat. As you continue to overeat, high levels of insulin keep your body set to gain fat. Ultimately, high levels of insulin create a set point to which your body returns inevitably. In order to lose weight permanently, you need consistent long periods of low insulin. The best way to do that is to have consistent long periods of not eating food that causes insulin to be released.

Our weight plateaus and ruthlessly climbs back up to our original body set weight

Simply decreasing the amount you’re eating … not stopping and then starting … results in your metabolism decreasing to match your calorie intake. So the moment the calories increase, insulin increases and puts the extra sugar into the form of fat.

STRATEGY: It’s not that I need to merely lower my blood glucose or lower my food intake; how do I lower the level of insulin in my blood?

DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
What gets my attention?
Do I understand the need or problem?
Do I understand the potential solution?
Do I understand how to apply that strategy?
What questions do I have for the experts? What might be the answers?
Who needs to hear this?
What do I do next?

RESOURCES

SOURCE – Footnotes:
[1]  “The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss” by Dr. Jason Fung, Timothy Noakes, page 235.

Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District Cumberland River Flood 1937 – Eddyville, Kentucky via Flickr.

Image: On-Off Switch.jpg From Wikimedia Commons

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Key: Fung-10-30.60 Last Revision: 01/13/2022.

QUOTE from Dr Fung (emphasis mine): 

“THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

THERE ARE FIVE basic steps in weight loss:

(1)Reduce your consumption of added sugars.
(2) Reduced your consumption of refined grains.
(3) Moderate your protein intake.
(4) Increase your consumption of natural fats.
(5) Increase your consumption of fiber and vinegar.

When it comes to the question of what to eat, you pretty much already knew the answer. Most diets very conspicuously resemble each other. There is far more agreement than discord. Eliminate sugars and refined grains. Eat more fiber. Eat vegetables. Eat organic. Eat more home-cooked meals. Avoid fast food. Eat whole unprocessed foods. Avoid artificial colors and flavors. Avoid processed or microwavable foods.” [1]

NOTE (my commentary):

There are five basic steps to Dr Fung’s process for weight loss.

To reduce them to an acronym: -SG(MP)+FFV:

Subtract from consumption: added sugars.
Subtract from consumption: refined grains.
Moderate your protein intake.
Add to your consumption: natural fats to provide caloric balance.
Add to your consumption: the two protective factors: fiber and vinegar.

In contrast to the Keto and Atkins diet, we moderate protein in order to decrease glucose in the body; glucose can be made from excess protein, and the purpose of the diet is to decrease the need for high levels of insulin, which can happen in the absence of glucose. Excess glucose in the blood directly causes insulin levels to rise. When glucose is low, the body turns to fat for fuel, beginning first in the liver and pancreas, and then in visceral fat. Fat is consumed for fuel when there is a long-term lack of glucose; the body preferentially burns any sugar present and then turns to fat for fuel. The absence of sugar and high insulin levels in the blood prevents any sugar from being converted to fat by the action of insulin. Once all sugars are consumed and no more is added to the body, the body naturally remains in fat-burning mode.

It is the rapid decrease in visceral fat, it seems, that causes bariatric surgery to result in a rapid cure for type two diabetes in a very short time.

It is the rapid decrease in visceral fat, it seems, that causes bariatric surgery to result in a rapid cure for type two diabetes in a very short time. [2]

And it seems that what is happening in the pancreas is not that the cells that produce insulin are themselves exhausted or impaired, but that they are prevented from working properly because the pancreas is clogged with fat and unable to function. This fat is put there by excess insulin doing what insulin does – converting excess glucose in the blood into fat, packing the pancreas and liver with it. When sugar is gone, the ability to produce insulin is restored but excess insulin is not released because there is no call for it to process sugar in the body. [3]

… what is happening in the pancreas is not that the cells that produce insulin are themselves exhausted or impaired, but that they are prevented from working properly because the pancreas is clogged with fat and unable to function.

STRATEGY: This is the recipe. Switch this process on: -SG(MP)+FFV. Subtract sugar and grains, moderate protein, and add healthy fat, fiber and vinegar.

DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
What gets my attention?
Do I understand the need or problem?
Do I understand the potential solution?
Do I understand how to apply that strategy?
What questions do I have for the experts? What might be the answers?
Who needs to hear this?
What do I do next?

SOURCE – Footnotes:
[1]  The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss by Dr. Jason Fung, Timothy Noakes, page 233.

[2] The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Dr. Jason Fung; Greystone Books (April 3, 2018). Page 203.

[3] The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Dr. Jason Fung; Greystone Books (April 3, 2018). Page 203.

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Please review the page How and Why We Use Quotes.
Key: Fung-10-30.59 Last Revision: 01/13/2022.

QUOTE from Dr Fung (emphasis mine): 

“Full-fat dairy is delicious and can be enjoyed without concern of fattening effects. A review of twenty-nine randomized control trials showed neither a fat-gaining nor reducing effect. Full-fat dairy is associated with a 62 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes.” [1]

NOTE (my commentary):

How and why does this work?

Milk does contain lactose, which is processed in the small intestine … undigested lactose acts as dietary fiber. It is a sugar and will increase blood sugar levels.

Full-fat dairy is associated with a 62 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Consider this reality: you can eat an entire stick of pure butter without significantly increasing your blood sugar, because “butter does not contain significant sugar. Butter is made from milk, which contains lactose, or milk sugar. There is a negligible amount remaining in butter after processing, but not enough to raise your blood sugar level.”[2] A quarter-pound stick of butter has 810 calories but only 1/10th of a gram of sugar.

“Full-fat dairy is delicious and can be enjoyed without concern of fattening effects.

Dairy foods also contain lactose or milk sugar. Your body starts metabolizing or breaking down lactose in the intestines with the help of lactase, an enzyme produced and released by cells that line your small intestine. The enzyme attaches to lactose and cleaves it into molecules of galactose and glucose. Glucose is immediately absorbed into your bloodstream and used by virtually all your cells so they can produce energy and do their jobs. Galactose cannot be directly used by your body, so it is further converted into glucose after additional work by lactase and other enzymes.” [3] So lactose eventually becomes glucose in the body.

STRATEGY:

DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS
What gets my attention?
Do I understand the need or problem?
Do I understand the potential solution?
Do I understand how to apply that strategy?
What questions do I have for the experts? What might be the answers?
Who needs to hear this?
What do I do next?

SOURCE – Footnotes:
[1]  “The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss” by Dr. Jason Fung, Timothy Noakes. Page 232.

[2] Diabetes and Butter: Is Butter Good for Diabetes? by Jennifer Bowers Ph.D, RD
https://www.thediabetescouncil.com/diabetes-and-butter-is-butter-good-for-diabetes/

[3] How Does the Body Metabolize Lactose? by Sirah Dubois, https://www.livestrong.com/article/562140-how-does-the-body-metabolize-lactose/

Image: On-Off Switch.jpg From Wikimedia Commons

Please review the page How and Why We Use Quotes.
Key: Fung-10-30.56 Last Revision: 01-11-2022.