Hormones under control: a slimming secret you might not know

Dr. Jason Fung – a practicing endocrinologist, one of the world’s leading experts in the treatment of obesity and diabetes, the author of the books “The Diabetes Code” and “Intermittent Fasting”, which is preparing for release.

His book “The Obesity Code” has been an international bestseller for several years now, helping thousands of people effectively lose weight and keep it at a real level. 

Dr. Fang’s revolutionary idea is that:

В overweight hormones are to blame, in particular – insulin, and if you do not pay attention to it, no newfangled methods of losing weight will help. 

First, a little theory. Before puberty, boys and girls have the same amount of subcutaneous fat. But after puberty, the female body already has 50% more fat than the male. This is despite the fact that on average men consume more calories.

Why? The fact is that weight gain is governed by more complex mechanisms than balancing the ratio of calories and sports in your life. The hormone cocktail that makes men and women different from each other helps women accumulate excess calories in the form of fat rather than burning them.

Adding weight (literally) is the fact that women have a lower metabolic rate than men. Moreover, in all people, metabolism slows down with age: by 2-3% every 10 years.

To lose weight, you need to put in order not the calories and the schedule of your sports activities, but hormones, because they regulate the metabolic rate and control the accumulation and expenditure of fat.

Why familiar schemes don’t work

In The Code of Obesity, Dr. Fang debunks many myths about weight loss. So it turns out: 

• Low-calorie diets can lead to disruptions in the hormonal system. Even a year after the diet, the body retains a high concentration of the hunger hormone – ghrelin and a low content of the hormones of satiety.

• Low-calorie sweeteners are harmful. The American Cancer Society conducted a survey of 78 women: the results showed that drinks and foods with the prefixes light – 694% fat and others do not help in weight loss. Moreover, they increase the risk of strokes and heart attacks by 0%.

• All sweeteners stir up the feeling of hunger: the brain, having received sweetness without calories, needs to supplement it with a large amount of food – and as a result, you overeat.

• Fractional six meals a day does not help you lose weight. Metabolism works at full capacity after a full meal, and snacking, you slow down this process.

• “Eat breakfast yourself” is not entirely true. Famous for their thinness, the French prefer a cup of coffee to breakfast. Driven by the belief that breakfast is healthy, people in a hurry eat store-bought products, mostly with refined carbohydrates, benefiting not themselves, but their producers.

• Sport is not a panacea. As part of a large-scale experiment on the study of women’s health, 39 women were divided into three groups: the first engaged in sports for more than one hour a day, the second – a couple of times a week, and the third – from time to time, but every week. Over the next ten years, the members of the high-load group were unable to lose excess weight, moreover: the fat did not even turn into muscle.

The Hunger Games 

The main culprit for excess weight and, in particular, the formation of visceral fat is hormone insulin… It is his activity that gives the brain the wrong weight value: the brain begins to consider excess body weight as the norm and tries to maintain it.

From Dr. Fang’s book, we learn that all foods, even healthy foods, increase insulin to one degree or another. This means that normalizing nutrition (for example, eating more healthy fats and fiber) is only half the battle.

To succeed, you need to break the cycle of insulin resistance. How? Provide the body with periods of very low insulin. Yes, that means – do not eat at all from 24 to 36 hours.

Fasting was the oldest form of healing. Our ancestors believed that to eat is to feed your disease.

How to properly handle intermittent fasting (you may call it fasting), Dr. Fang explains in detail in the book. Here are some tips:

1. Start your morning with a glass of clean, cool water.

2. Keep yourself busy so you can keep yourself from thinking about food. A busy day is ideal for fasting.

3. Drink coffee: it suppresses hunger. Green tea, black tea, or broth are also good choices – see The Obesity Code for a recipe for the right fasting broth.

4. Catch the wave: hunger comes in waves, it does not overwhelm us all the time. When you feel it coming, slowly drink a glass of water or a mug of coffee.

5. Give yourself a month: it takes your body time to get used to fasting. The first few times you may find it difficult, be mentally prepared for this. Don’t back down. Then it will be much easier.

6. Eat a healthy diet on rest days from fasting: Intermittent fasting is not a good reason to eat everything. Avoid sugar and refined carbohydrates.

7. After you finish fasting, pretend you weren’t starving. Eat normally, do not pounce on food.

8. The last and most important recommendation: make fasting a part of your life. Schedule fasting days to fit your schedule. For example, vacations and family holidays are not the best time for exploits. You can get slimmer and healthier while enjoying life! 

And about stress 

“I can make anyone fat, – says Dr. Fang. – How? Simply by giving him prednisone, a synthetic copy of the human hormone cortisol. Prednisolone is used to treat many diseases – asthma, arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel diseases, myasthenia gravis. ” 

But even those who do not take medication receive a daily dose of real, non-artificial cortisol. It raises glucose levels and subsequently insulin levels. The rise in insulin equals weight gain. 

We are surrounded by chronic stress factors: quarrels in the family, difficulties at work, a sense of disorder in life, and also … those very diets.

During strict diets, the production of the stress hormone doubles, from which the body begins to store fat mainly in the abdomen (while fasting implies a reward, a quick return to the usual food, and does not cause the same stress as a diet).

Also, to undermine all efforts to combat obesity, you just need to get enough sleep: not enough sleep stimulates the level of stress hormone and increases the feeling of hunger. 

Reducing stress factors, choosing healthy foods and intermittent fasting as a lifestyle are a sure formula for success in gaining an ideal figure for years to come.

Be sure to check with your healthcare professional before changing your diet or lifestyle.