Jason Fung's Book: The Obesity Code, Thoughts?

rouhnaz · March 2017

Hello. I was wondering if anyone has read this book. Have you found it useful? (It sure has great amazon reviews!)
I am familiar with his work a little bit, watched a youtube video of one of his presentations.
If you have had experience with his methods and have any good feedback, please share!

Unknown · March 2017

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TimothyFish · March 2017

It's just another way of saying that sugar and processed foods are evil. He just does it by focusing on insulin rather than directly on sugar. Insulin is certainly a cause, but I have a hard time seeing it as the root cause of obesity. It seems to me that there is far more evidence to support lack of movement as the root cause than insulin, and even that has things that tend to indicate that it might not be.

VintageFeline · March 2017

Jason Fung is a dirty word round here.

StargazingGirl · March 2017

I personally think it's an awesome book. It delivers information that is applicable to a lot of people, me included.
Should people move more? Yep. Should they eat real food instead of crap? Yep
Does everyone have insulin resistance? No. But those that do, this answers a lot of questions in easy to understand plain speaking. If later, like myself, you find you want more of a science based explaination, that's available too.

Catawampous · March 2017

I haven't read the book. I have listened to a few interviews and such. Some feel he's a quack. I honestly can't say either way just from what I've listened to. What I do know is he seems to think outside of the box in terms of IR and problems that can go along with it. Personally, I like that. Since what we have now doesn't work for a lot of folks he may be on to something. I actually hope he is for everyone's sake that suffers from these types of problems.

cityruss · March 2017

StargazingGirl wrote: »

I personally think it's an awesome book. It delivers information that is applicable to a lot of people, me included.
Should people move more? Yep. Should they eat real food instead of crap? Yep
Does everyone have insulin resistance? No. But those that do, this answers a lot of questions in easy to understand plain speaking. If later, like myself, you find you want more of a science based explaination, that's available too.

He's a quack who prays on the general public's lack of understanding of human physiological and biological processes, and their desire for sciencey sounding explanations.

Ohmehgawd insulin made me fats!!!!$@/#/#/! Get it off me!!!!#$$/

Gallowmere1984 · March 2017

cityruss wrote: »

StargazingGirl wrote: »

I personally think it's an awesome book. It delivers information that is applicable to a lot of people, me included.
Should people move more? Yep. Should they eat real food instead of crap? Yep
Does everyone have insulin resistance? No. But those that do, this answers a lot of questions in easy to understand plain speaking. If later, like myself, you find you want more of a science based explaination, that's available too.

He's a quack who prays on the general public's lack of understanding of human physiological and biological processes, and their desire for sciencey sounding explanations.

Ohmehgawd insulin made me fats!!!!$@/#/#/! Get it off me!!!!#$$/

Sooo, nearly every diet author ever? The few exceptions are generally too in depth for the general public's taste (Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon come to mind).

nvmomketo · March 2017

For those with metabolic issues, I think his plan would probably help their health. He's been successful helping his patients.

I follow something similar and have only had my health and weight improve.

Is his explanation of the science 100% right? Maybe. Maybe not.

Gallowmere1984 wrote: »

cityruss wrote: »

StargazingGirl wrote: »

I personally think it's an awesome book. It delivers information that is applicable to a lot of people, me included.
Should people move more? Yep. Should they eat real food instead of crap? Yep
Does everyone have insulin resistance? No. But those that do, this answers a lot of questions in easy to understand plain speaking. If later, like myself, you find you want more of a science based explaination, that's available too.

He's a quack who prays on the general public's lack of understanding of human physiological and biological processes, and their desire for sciencey sounding explanations.

Ohmehgawd insulin made me fats!!!!$@/#/#/! Get it off me!!!!#$$/

Sooo, nearly every diet author ever? The few exceptions are generally too in depth for the general public's taste (Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon come to mind).

In their area of expertise they are good. I've heard a few head scratchers from them too though.

StargazingGirl · March 2017

cityruss wrote: »

StargazingGirl wrote: »

I personally think it's an awesome book. It delivers information that is applicable to a lot of people, me included.
Should people move more? Yep. Should they eat real food instead of crap? Yep
Does everyone have insulin resistance? No. But those that do, this answers a lot of questions in easy to understand plain speaking. If later, like myself, you find you want more of a science based explaination, that's available too.

He's a quack who prays on the general public's lack of understanding of human physiological and biological processes, and their desire for sciencey sounding explanations.

Ohmehgawd insulin made me fats!!!!$@/#/#/! Get it off me!!!!#$$/

So are you offering a different solution? Opinion? You didn't really offer anything else.
The OP asked a question and I answered it and you take exception to it for some reason, but offer nothing else? Why?
Hope your day gets better.

Unknown · March 2017

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Hornsby · March 2017

He is pretty off the wall and tends to appeal to people who like to think they are "forward thinkers".

StargazingGirl · March 2017

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

@StargazingGirl -- they are actually offering something and they are right in what they say...

Lots of people are going around thinking insulin spikes in the body are the reason they are obese or have diabetes.. its simply not the case.

Insulin spikes happen to everyone. They are normal for the human body.

When someone is IR/Diabetic, whats unhealthy and damaging is the insulin being produced not being able to do its job, which is stopping the sugar that carbs have turned into, from attaching to red blood cells and causing blood sugar to rise and STAY high for long periods of time without being able to come down to normal levels, in a healthy person, insulin would cause blood sugar levels to decrease within a 2 hour period.

Yes, I do understand that. I do not think it is 'the only cause' nor do I think the book offers 'the full 100%' solution. It is one but one piece.

Unknown · March 2017

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ccsernica · March 2017

StargazingGirl wrote: »

I personally think it's an awesome book. It delivers information that is applicable to a lot of people, me included.
Should people move more? Yep. Should they eat real food instead of crap? Yep
Does everyone have insulin resistance? No. But those that do, this answers a lot of questions in easy to understand plain speaking. If later, like myself, you find you want more of a science based explaination, that's available too.

A science-based explanation won't necessarily give you the details on the science, but it should correctly and honestly present what science has to say on a subject. That's true even if what science has to say is "I don't know yet."

Explanations that are not science-based are very likely quackery.

Catawampous · March 2017

I find it interesting that after all this time and all the studies done ... we still have diabetes, we still have IR and obesity appears to be getting worse. So obviously what has been the "fix" over the years hasn't worked. Maybe it's because it doesn't work like they thought? Who knows. If by chance he's on to something then more power to him and I will be truly happy for those that it helps.

I don't have these issues myself, thankfully. But if I did, I may take a harder look. Near as I can tell he's not selling any product other than his book. A lot of doctors sell books ... so *shrug*. YMMV

Unknown · March 2017

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Catawampous · March 2017

I am not disagreeing with your take on all this. So let's get that settled first LOL I am only offering mine to the OP. Up to them what they buy to read. I'd rather see someone spend money on a book than say on ... Hydroxycut.

Nope, never seen one report on that. What I did see a LOT was how fat was going to kill me and so were eggs! So there is that

ccsernica · March 2017

Catawampous wrote: »

I am not disagreeing with your take on all this. So let's get that settled first LOL I am only offering mine to the OP. Up to them what they buy to read. I'd rather see someone spend money on a book than say on ... Hydroxycut.

Nope, never seen one report on that. What I did see a LOT was how fat was going to kill me and so were eggs! So there is that

A book can do just as much harm as ill-advised supplements, by pushing diets doomed to failure. This is why we get so much yo-yo dieting.

Weight loss is a separate issue from foods that might be a problem in other ways. You can be underweight and still develop hypertension or atherosclerosis.

Catawampous · March 2017

My point was ... science told me those foods were bad and guess what, they aren't. So obviously there are times when science can be wrong ... or bad science that gets published as gospel to the masses. However you want to phrase it or look at it. Obviously you can be underweight and have serious health concerns. But I am not going here, I don't have the time or inclination and I been around just long enough to see the writing on the wall as far as this thread is concerned.

OP - if you feel the book is for you, have at it. Maybe listen to some of his stuff first and determine for yourself if you think the book is worth the investment or if he's a quack or not. Don't take the written word as gospel just like you don't take TV advertisements for weight loss products as gospel. Use a critical eye and if you do buy the book do your research on any claims made.

stevencloser · March 2017

nvmomketo wrote: »

For those with metabolic issues, I think his plan would probably help their health. He's been successful helping his patients.

I follow something similar and have only had my health and weight improve.

Is his explanation of the science 100% right? Maybe. Maybe not.

Gallowmere1984 wrote: »

cityruss wrote: »

StargazingGirl wrote: »

I personally think it's an awesome book. It delivers information that is applicable to a lot of people, me included.
Should people move more? Yep. Should they eat real food instead of crap? Yep
Does everyone have insulin resistance? No. But those that do, this answers a lot of questions in easy to understand plain speaking. If later, like myself, you find you want more of a science based explaination, that's available too.

He's a quack who prays on the general public's lack of understanding of human physiological and biological processes, and their desire for sciencey sounding explanations.

Ohmehgawd insulin made me fats!!!!$@/#/#/! Get it off me!!!!#$$/

Sooo, nearly every diet author ever? The few exceptions are generally too in depth for the general public's taste (Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon come to mind).

In their area of expertise they are good. I've heard a few head scratchers from them too though.

Good thing that nutrition and exercise are their area of expertise, other than certain other authors whose area of expertise lies in an entirely different building of the university than the one from which they could've gained expertise in nutrition and exercise.

StargazingGirl · March 2017

Pretty much everything that's in the book is available in his YouTube presentations and interviews. That would be easy enough to check out to see...'is this something that I'm even interested in'?

TimothyFish · March 2017

Catawampous wrote: »

My point was ... science told me those foods were bad and guess what, they aren't. So obviously there are times when science can be wrong ... or bad science that gets published as gospel to the masses. However you want to phrase it or look at it. Obviously you can be underweight and have serious health concerns. But I am not going here, I don't have the time or inclination and I been around just long enough to see the writing on the wall as far as this thread is concerned.

OP - if you feel the book is for you, have at it. Maybe listen to some of his stuff first and determine for yourself if you think the book is worth the investment or if he's a quack or not. Don't take the written word as gospel just like you don't take TV advertisements for weight loss products as gospel. Use a critical eye and if you do buy the book do your research on any claims made.

There is no concept of bad and good in science. For concepts of good and bad you must look elsewhere. Science can tell you whether a food is likely to help you reach your goals, but it cannot tell you if a food is good or bad because it cannot tell you if your goal is good or bad.

Christine_72 · March 2017

I'm really excited to see what "the science" says in 20 years time. I'm sure everything will be turned on it's *kitten* again...

Unknown · March 2017

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rouhnaz · March 2017

I appreciate everyone's feedback. Thank you.

ronjsteele1 · March 2017

This thread almost makes me laugh. If someone mentions something that differs from current scientific literature people freak out on them. And then in this thread some of those same ones are stating science isn't the be all, end all. Or readily admit that it changes often. But whoa to the person that sites someone that is ahead of their time right now. People are truly fickle. It really isn't about science for most people here. It's really about them not liking being disagreed with. I just think it's funny.

ccsernica · March 2017

Those "ahead of their time" are wrong far more often than not. It's more than a little disingenuous to call these "brave mavericks" ahead of their time. The best, most honest approach is to use the best science has to say at present. It's not perfect and no one ever says it is, but nothing else will be based on the facts as they stand. To go beyond the facts as they stand and call it the truth is misleading at best and a lie at worst.