were too skinny, they would not be able to survive the lean times. Body
fatness is a critical determinant of species survival.
Figure 3: Weight Gain or Loss Depends Upon the Hormone Insulin
As such, we rely on hormones to precisely and tightly regulate body
fat. We don’t consciously control our body weight any more than we
control our heart rate or body temperature. These are automatically reg-
ulated, and so is our weight. Hormones tell us we are hungry (ghrelin).
Hormones tell us we are full (peptide YY, cholecystokinin). Hormones
increase energy expenditure (adrenalin). Hormones shut down energy
expenditure (thyroid hormone). Obesity is a hormonal dysregulation of fat
Fed State
Storing Food Energy
Burning Food Energy
Fasted State
Eat Food
Increase
Insulin
Store Sugar in Liver
Produce Fat in Liver
Burn Stored Sugar in Liver
Burn Fat in Liver
Decrease
Insulin
No Food
“Fasting”
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THE OBESITY CODE COOKBOOK
accumulation. We get fat because we’ve given our body the hormonal sig-
nal to gain body fat. The main hormonal signal is insulin, and that level
goes up or down according to our diet.
Insulin levels are almost 20 percent higher in obese people compared
to people within their healthy weight range, and these elevated levels
are strongly correlated to important indices such as waist circumference
and waist:hip ratio. Does that mean high insulin causes obesity?
The “insulin causes obesity” hypothesis is easily tested: If you give
insulin to a random group of people, will they gain fat? The short answer
is an emphatic yes. Patients who use insulin regularly and physicians
who prescribe it already know the awful truth: the more insulin you give,
the more obesity you get. Numerous studies have demonstrated this fact.
Insulin causes weight gain.
The landmark 1993 Diabetes Control and Complications Trial com-
pared a standard dose of insulin to a high dose designed to tightly
control blood sugars in patients with type 1 diabetes. Large insulin
doses controlled blood sugars better, but what happened to the partic-
ipants’ weight? Participants in the high-dose group gained, on average,
9.8 pounds (4.5 kilograms) more than participants in the standard group.
More than 30 percent of the patients experienced “major” weight gain!
Prior to the study, both groups were more or less equal in weight, with
little obesity. The only difference between the groups was the amount of
insulin administered. More insulin resulted in more weight gain.
Insulin causes obesity. As insulin levels go up, the body set weight
goes up. The hypothalamus in the brain sends out hormonal signals to
the body to gain weight. We become hungry and eat. If we deliberately
restrict our caloric intake in response to this signal, our total energy
expenditure will decrease. The result is the same: weight gain.
Once we understand that obesity is a hormonal imbalance, we
can begin to treat it. Since too much insulin causes obesity, treatment
demands that we lower insulin levels. The question is not how to balance
calories but how to balance insulin, our main fat-storing hormone.
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introduction
Insulin levels increase in two circumstances:
1. We eat more foods that stimulate insulin. Or,
2. We continue to eat the same insulin-stimulating foods, but more
frequently.
Goals
The Obesity Code laid out the science behind weight gain and how to
apply that knowledge to lose weight. It forms the theory behind the
IDM program’s many successes over the years. In this cookbook, I hope
to make following the principles behind the IDM program even easier to
implement in day-to-day life by providing simple, delicious recipes and
meal plans.
The key to long-lasting weight control is to control the main hor-
mone responsible, which we’ve established is insulin. There are no drugs
to control insulin. Controlling insulin requires a change in our diet. This
boils down to two simple factors: how high insulin levels are after meals,
and how long they persist.
1. What we eat determines how high insulin spikes.
2. When we eat determines how persistent insulin is.
Most diets concern themselves with only the first factor and there-
fore fail over the long term. It is not possible to address only half the
problem and achieve total success. Therefore, this is not a low-calorie
diet. This is not a low-fat diet. This is not a vegetarian diet. This is not a
carnivore diet. This is not even necessarily a low-carbohydrate diet. This
is a diet designed to lower insulin levels because insulin is the physio-
logical trigger of fat storage. If you want to lower fat storage, you need to
lower insulin, and this can be done even with a high-carbohydrate diet.
History shows us this is true. Many traditional societies have eaten
carbohydrate-based diets without suffering from rampant obesity. In the
1970s, before the obesity epidemic, the Irish were loving their potatoes.
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THE OBESITY CODE COOKBOOK
The Asians were loving their white rice. The French were loving their
bread. Even in America, as disco was sweeping the nation and Star Wars
and Jaws played to packed theaters, people were eating white bread and
jam. They were eating ice cream. They were eating cookies. They were