Updated May 29th, 2023
One of the running themes of Ryan’s Reading Reviews is health and wellness book reviews. I’ve personally struggled with some health problems over the years (decades?), and I when I would go out in public, I would see all these people with “pouches”. So I started saying “America is fat, the proof is in the pouch”. Sorry for anyone with a pouch who is offended. Clearly something in our society regarding health and diet is wrong, so that’s why I took my health into my own hands and have been reading about health and wellness ever since. And I’m never looking back. Enter The Complete Guide to Fasting.
This is a Life-Changing Book
Dr. Jason Fung has an interesting story. Dr. Fung is a kidney doctor who had a large number of diabetic patients referred to him who developed kidney problems. He knew there had to be a solution to diabetes (type 2) other than just prescribing medicines like insulin. And thus began fasting as a therapy for diabetes, a myriad of other metabolic diseases, and overall health. This is a must-read for anyone who is sick of dieting and wants to take their health into their own hands. In summary, Dr. Fung shows that the conventional wisdom of “eat less, move more” is fundamentally wrong.
Imagine this for a moment: The thing that every doctor and every expert in society recommends is the exact opposite of what really works. This is backed up in the book through charts and cited sources. Remember that show The Biggest Loser? Well, only one winner has successfully kept the weight off long-term.
So instead of “calories in, calories out (CICO)” and “eat less, move more”, Dr. Fung says weight loss is more of a hormonal issue. This makes sense to me- I have no doubt that 100 calories of soda and as 100 calories of spinach are totally different metabolically.
The Benefits of Fasting
There are a myriad of benefits to fasting. Here are a just a few:
- Weight loss
- Improve insulin sensitivity (opposite of insulin resistance)
- Improve body’s stress response
- Improve/reverse type 2 diabetes
- Increase autophagy (recycle/repair cells)
- Increase stem cell production
–>Check out the Book Here<–
The Complete Guide to Fasting is Not Really a Diet Nook
It’s more of a lifestyle book. Dr. Fung and his panel of experts weigh in (no pun intended) on advice and strategies on how to fast properly and in a healthy way. But just from an evolutionary perspective, it makes logical sense. Our ancestors lived a feast-and-famine existence. In the springtime, food for our ancestors was abundant but in the winter food was more scarce. Same thing today- we don’t need to eat 6 meals a day, every day. We aren’t going to die if we skip dinner one night. You don’t need to starve yourself by eating 1,000 calories every day. For instance, you can enjoy life and eat guilt-free on Thanksgiving, and then do intermittent fasting after the holiday to get back in check. Which leads me to the next point.
There are Many Different Types of Fasts
The book has all different types of fasting plans and you can experiment/choose the plan that is right for you. There are intermittent fasts (skipping meals, only eating dinner once or twice a week, for instance). There are extended fasts (72+ hours of fasting), and there are fasts which you can customize and adjust to your own lifestyle and health goals.
What you Can Eat While Fasting?
Dr. Fung advises against completely depriving yourself of water when fasting. Instead, he advises you can eat/drink things like coffee, tea, water, and even bone broth, especially on longer (extended) fasts. There is a whole section in the book on what to eat/not eat during fasts.
Who Should Not Fast?
The average healthy person can do fasting on their own. However, since 1 in 8 Americans are metabolically healthy, there are a lot of people who should not be fasting without medical supervision. If you have any medical complications or are on medicines for anything, especially diabetes, you should not fast unless you are directly in contact with your doctor or medical team. In other words, most people should use caution when fasting. Medications can really cause problems or even death while fasting.
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I am not a Doctor
I am not a doctor, I am just a guy who lost over 30 pounds using diet and exercise during the pandemic, when a lot of people gained weight. I’ve been reading books on health and dieting for over a decade and these are just my opinions and results that I am sharing with you. Your situation and journey may be different, as everyone has the own unique situation, so this is really just a book review. With that being said, I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone who is ready to take control of their health and get off or reduce their medicine.
How Many Stars?
5 🙂
My tagline used to be “Book Reviews in 500 words or less”, but clearly I went over that for The Complete Guide to Fasting, and I could write another 1,000 words on the book. I think it’s a great book, considering the obesity epidemic we have been in for decades. It’s a great book for individuals to check out, as well as for our public health interest. If you are curious about the benefits of fasting and the failure of dieting, check it out. It may just change your life like it did mine.
Other Names in Fasting
Dr. Jason Fung – The Fasting Method
Jimmy Moore – Co Author of The Complete Guide to Fasting
Mark Sisson– The Primal Legend
Peter Attia – Another legend for Keto and Longevity
BOOK DETAILS ONE MORE TIME
Title: The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting
Authors: Jason Fung, MD and Jimmy Moore
Publish Date: October 18, 2016
ISBN: 1628600012 | ISBN-13: 978-1628600018
Amazon Affiliate Disclosure:
Ryan’s Reading Reviews is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Comments?
Did you read The Complete Guide to Fasting? What did you think of it? Would you like me to write a personal post about how I lost 30 pounds in part by using this book, or should I stick strictly to book reviews? Let me know in the comments.
I’ve been interested in fasting for a while and a reader of health books even longer. Here are a couple others you might like.
I found Dead Doctors Don’t Lie by Joel Wallach interesting owing to Wallach being a veterinarian and not a human physician. He asks things like, why do farmers feed minerals to livestock but not to their children?
The first book I remember reading about longevity was The Okinawa Program by the Willcox brothers. It was published back in 2001 and was one of the first studies of the, so-called, Blue Zones. The thing I found most interesting was not that there were these exotic cultures in far-flung places where people were living healthy lives into their 90s, but was how the Seventh-day Adventists were living similarly long lives in Los Angeles.
Hi Brad,
Thanks for the comment! I’ve heard of Wallach and I think I have a copy of “Blue Zones” somewhere. I’ll have to find it and read it and review it. I know, it is pretty crazy that in California people live over 100. Have you ever tried an extended fast?