Eat Whole Foods — Apples, not Apple Puree or Apple Juice

The Science of Processed Foods

Dr. Jason Fung
7 min readJun 6, 2024

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It’s not all about the calories

Virtually all ‘obesity experts’ claim that weight gain is all about calories, and this widely believed misconception has led to a worldwide obesity epidemic. The belief that 100 calories of cookies have the same fattening effect as 100 calories of salmon is simply not correct. Those two 100 calorie portions of foods have widely divergent hormonal effects, and we gain or lose weight based on our hormones. Why would we pretend that these vastly different hormonal responses are simply irrelevant? Did we think the human body is so magnificently stupid as to produce hormonal signals that have no consequence?

Some hormones tell us to gain weight (insulin, cortisol) and others tell us to lose weight (GLP-1). This isn’t a real surprise, because our entire body works on hormonal signalling. We grow when hormones tell us to grow (growth hormone). We go through puberty when hormones tell us to. We sleep when hormones tell us to (circadian rhythm). If two different foods with the same energy (calories) evoke different hormonal responses, then the effect on our bodies will also be different.

It’s also not all about the macros (carbs, proteins and fats)

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Dr. Jason Fung

Nephrologist. New York Times best selling author. Interest in type 2 diabetes reversal and intermittent fasting. Founder www.TheFastingMethod.com.