Dr Jason Fung MD and Intermittent Fasting

author avatar Dr. Eric Berg 08/31/2023

Out of all of the gurus and experts on fasting, Dr. Jason Fung MD is number one. His concepts on fasting and health are life-changing. Some of you may have never heard of Jason Fung and fasting. I want to share a few of his unique ideas with you that I think will be enlightening even if you do know a little bit about this fasting genius.

In this article, I will cover:

A close-up of a doctor with a stethoscope and clipboard  | Dr. Jason Fung MD and Intermittent Fasting


 

Who Is Dr. Jason Fung?

The information Dr. Jason Fung shares is really just spot on. But, before we dive into some of his interesting health concepts, let me share a little bit about who Jason Fung is for those of you who don’t know.

Dr. Jason Fung is a Canadian nephrologist. A nephrologist is a type of doctor who specializes in conditions and diseases that affect the kidneys. Like I mentioned before, he is an expert on fasting. Dr. Jason Fung has three best-selling books, but I highly recommend starting with his book “The Obesity Code.”

He is also the co-founder of the Intensive Dietary Management Program. The Intensive Dietary Program focuses on conditions, such as:

  • Obesity
  • Type 2 diabetes and borderline diabetes
  • Fatty liver disease
  • Polycystic ovarian disease
  • Sleep apnea
     

The other founder of this groundbreaking program is Megan Ramos. Megan had spoken at my Keto Summit before and shared incredible stories about some of the things they’re doing in their clinic. For example, they’ve been seeing post-menopausal women who do fasting, achieve amazing anti-aging benefits.

Another practitioner who works with Dr. Fung is Nadia Pateguana. She has also been to my Keto Summit and spoke about polycystic ovarian syndrome. They have seen incredible success using fasting as a tool when working with people with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Dr. Fung has a way of being able to explain things very simply while still covering a lot of important data. I encourage you to learn more about him and what he does. You may also want to check out his books—they are fantastic resources to help you get healthy.

A small clock sitting on a plate next to cutlery and a measuring tape | Dr. Jason Fung MD and Intermittent Fasting


 

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Fasting is a tool that, among many other things, allows the body to clear out excess fat. It also cleans out the fat from around the organs and inside the organs—especially liver fat. It’s a way of cleaning the body internally.

Intermittent fasting is actually very simple. With intermittent fasting, you’re not starving the body. You’re just cutting out frequent meals. Basically, you have an eating window where you would eat your meals, and you would fast (not eat) for the rest of your day. For example, you might have your first meal at around 2pm and your last meal of the day around 6pm. So, your eating window would be from 2-6 pm, and the rest of the day, you’re fasting.

The times and number of meals can vary. Some people might only have one meal a day or even one meal every other day. But, the example above gives you 20 hours of fasting, which is fantastic. This could give you a ton of health benefits for your entire body. But, again, everyone is different, and depending on your needs and goals, the length of time you fast can vary.

There is also periodic fasting. This can provide a lot of benefits as well. It’s not something you do instead of intermittent fasting. Periodic fasting is something you do in addition to intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is something you would include in your daily routine. Periodic fasting is something you would do less frequently. This is where you would go for a longer period of time, like maybe 48 hours, without eating.

When you start fasting, it’s crucial to ease into it gradually. You would want to eat when you’re hungry and not eat when you’re not hungry. It’s as simple as that. First, you’ll want to cut out snacks. Then gradually go from three meals a day to two meals or even one meal a day. When you combine this with the healthy keto diet, what’s amazing is that eventually, you’ll find that you’re actually less hungry, and you have fewer cravings.

A small bike made out of vegetables against a wood surface -  | Dr. Jason Fung MD and Intermittent Fasting


 

Interesting Health Concepts by Dr. Jason Fung

Now that we’ve covered a little bit about Dr. Jason Fung and fasting let’s move on to a few of his ideas on health and wellness.

The Calorie in Calorie out Concept Is FALSE

One of the key things Dr. Fung talks about is how the calorie in calorie out theory is completely false. With the calorie in calorie out theory, “calories in” refers to the number of calories you get from what you eat, and “calories out” refers to the number of calories you burn. But, this is not actually a scientific law at all, and this method has not worked with Dr. Fung’s kidney patients who have diabetes.

From what I’ve seen, and from what Dr. Fung and many others have seen, this mainstream concept of eating less and moving more just doesn’t work. People who start to cut calories, especially fat calories are basically setting themselves up for failure. Not only do they typically have more cravings and are more hungry, but they also can’t lose weight no matter how hard they try.

Fat Storing Hormone Controls Your Weight

Dr. Jason Fung also presents a lot of hardcore, credible studies supporting fasting, lowering Fat Storing Hormone, and doing a low-carb diet. When you lower carbs, you lower Fat Storing Hormone. Fat Storing Hormone is a hormone, and it controls whether you gain weight or you lose weight.

Essentially, when you reduce Fat Storing Hormone, you lose weight. When you increase Fat Storing Hormone, you gain weight. This could be why a person with type 1 diabetes, who doesn’t have any Fat Storing Hormone, might tend to be thinner. On the flip side, a person with diabetes type 2 who has higher levels of Fat Storing Hormone might be overweight.

The more Fat Storing Hormone a person has, the more it creates Fat Storing Hormone resistance. Fat Storing Hormone resistance is similar to antibiotic resistance. For example, if you’re exposed to antibiotics over and over again, your body can develop resistance against that. With Fat Storing Hormone resistance, your body has been exposed to too much Fat Storing Hormone for a period of time, which causes it to start resisting Fat Storing Hormone.

I believe Fat Storing Hormone resistance is the key thing behind prediabetes, full-blown diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and many other health issues. I also believe that fixing this issue is as simple as decreasing Fat Storing Hormone. The two ways to decrease Fat Storing Hormone are to reduce your carbs and to do intermittent fasting.

A colorful variety of healthy keto foods | Dr. Jason Fung MD and Intermittent Fasting


Don’t Do Keto Without Intermittent Fasting

Dr. Jason Fung does not recommend keto without intermittent fasting. This is something that I emphasize as well. The ketogenic diet, or keto diet, is a low-carb, medium protein, high fat diet. With a keto diet, you’re cutting out carbs and sugar, which can have fantastic effects on your blood sugars and your overall health.

I recommend a version of the ketonic diet, which I call the healthy keto diet. Healthy keto focuses on getting healthy to lose weight, instead of losing weight to get healthy. Unlike “dirty” keto, the healthy keto diet encourages people to consume high-quality, nutrient-dense foods. In fact, I encourage people to consume seven to ten cups of vegetables every day to get all of the nutrients the body really needs.

Keto should always be combined with intermittent fasting. If you’re doing fasting and you’re trying to lower Fat Storing Hormone, it doesn’t make sense to eat something that would raise Fat Storing Hormone like carbohydrates and refined sugar. The combination of keto and fasting can be very powerful.

 

Key Takeaways—Dr. Jason Fung and Fasting

Dr. Jason Fung is an expert on the topic of fasting. His knowledge has helped change the way many people think about getting healthy. Instead of frequent meals throughout the day, it may be much more beneficial to include intermittent fasting as a part of your daily routine. Intermittent fasting has helped thousands of people get healthy and lose weight. But, you can’t forget about healthy keto. Intermittent fasting, along with the healthy keto diet, is a powerful combination.

If you’ve wanted to do the keto diet and intermittent fasting, Dr. Fung would be a great doctor to work with for additional help with the process. If you’re not familiar with him, I will encourage you to get his book “The Obesity Code” to learn more about Jason Fung and fasting.

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Disclaimer: Our educational content is not meant or intended for medical advice or treatment.

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for quality and relevancy.

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