The Hunger Code: Resetting Your Body’s Fat Thermostat in the Age of Ultra-Processed Food

Nephrologist Fung (The Obesity Code) offers a convincing argument that the prevailing weight-loss advice to “eat less, move more” is overly simplistic. Fung proposes a new framework: People gain weight because they are overly hungry, which causes them to overeat. He identifies three kinds of hunger that can be controlled to promote weight loss: homeostatic (physical hunger), hedonic (eating for pleasure or comfort), and conditioned (eating out of habit). Homeostatic hunger is regulated by hormones, Fung explains: different foods stimulate certain hormones that the body responds to in various ways. Cookies, for example, stimulate insulin, which tells the body to store the incoming calories as fat, whereas eating eggs boosts GLP-1, which causes satiety. To lose weight, he recommends a low-insulin diet, which involves eating fewer refined carbohydrates and being sure to eat carbs with fats and proteins to slow digestion. Addressing hedonic and conditioned hunger, Fung details how the chemical nature of ultra-processed foods makes them addictive and how their cheap cost and prevalence makes them hard to resist. Interspersed amid the explanations are 50 practical tips for losing weight, such as “eat more fiber to satisfy hunger” and “find a weight-loss buddy.” This is an important contribution to the conversation about nutrition. (Mar.)