Why the intermittent fasting? Because it seems to be an efficient way to reverse the fat build-up in the liver and pancreas that cause the high blood sugars of diabetes. He doesn’t mention how many of his patients start the program and then drop out because it’s too difficult. Maybe it’s easier if you’re obese.ĭr Fung shares many clinical vignettes from his Intensive Dietary Management Program in Canada. I have no idea if fasting 36 hours would be any harder than 24. That’s pretty easy for me, probably because I eat low-carb, so my fat-burning cellular machinery is ready for action. The longest fast I’ve done has been 24 hours. If the underlying science checks out, I’d seriously consider the Fung approach myself if I had T2 diabetes. Thus far, none of my patients have asked me about fasting.

Two week-long sample meal plans are provided. On non-fasting days, his patients typically eat a low-carb diet, which makes sense to me. I’m talking about fasting for 30–36 hours at a stretch, for up to three times a week. But it goes beyond that by advocating frequent prolonged fasts as a potential cure for diabetes. This book builds on the success of very low-carb eating as a therapeutic approach to type 2 diabetes. When I mention diabetes or diabetic hereafter, it’s always type 2 diabetes, not type 1. I waffled between a four or five-star review, but settled on four-star because 1) I haven’t read all of the pertinent scientific literature, and 2) I’m not sure how feasible the Fung protocol is for the average type 2 diabetic (or PWD if you prefer). I recently read his latest book, The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally, published this year.

Dr Jason Fung is best known for his advocacy of fasting and low-carb eating.

The diabetes code diet