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THE OBESITY CODE COOKBOOK

When TO eaT

The DIeT (What to Eat) addresses the first half of the problem, but

remember that long-term weight loss is a two-factor process. Two major

factors maintain our insulin at a high level. The first is the food we

choose to eat: what we eat and how much of it is fattening. When we

eat, insulin goes up and our body gets hormonal orders to store body fat.

But the total insulin effect on the body is not simply determined by how

high insulin levels get. It also depends critically upon how long those

insulin levels stay up for. That’s why it’s so important to allow periods

when insulin levels are allowed to drift downwards. Fasting (When to

Eat) addresses the second half of the problem. Fasting corrects some of

the hormonal problems that cause obesity and so helps maintain long-

term weight loss. Combining the proper diet with intermittent fasting is

a time-tested weight-maintenance method.

What does that mean? Suppose you spend $1,000 in one day. That’s

a fantastic shopping day. If this happens only once a year, that’s accept-

able. However, if it happens every single day, you will soon be very poor.

So, the total effect depends not only upon the level but also the duration

and frequency of the activity. Insulin is no different. The total insu-

lin effect depends not only upon how high insulin levels get (which

depends upon the foods we choose to eat), but also upon how persistent

those high insulin levels are. This depends upon how often you eat,

which is an entirely different issue than which foods we choose to eat. If

you are trying to lose weight, an insulin spike once or twice a day is far

preferable to multiple spikes per day.

How can we induce our body into a temporary state of very low insu-

lin levels? Because all foods raise insulin, the only way for us to lower it

is to completely abstain from eating. The answer we are looking for is, in

a word, fasting. Fasting refers to any period in which you do not eat. This

may be several hours (between meals) or several weeks. For weight loss

and a reversal of type 2 diabetes, I commonly recommend intermittent

fasts of sixteen to thirty-six hours.