Books to end 2023

 I read a bunch of books in the beginning of the year. And after a scare, in the mid-year health checkup, rest of the year was spent reading up on pre-diabetes. I ordered all possible ones in the library. Of all, the most useful one was Obesity Code - in explanation of cause and offering solution with all reasoning.

Sourdough - by Robin Sloan

Its about a software engineer in Robotics arm company in SF, covers . Some restaurant guy gives his bread culture/starter to her and she bakes to keep it alive. I started enjoying it at the part where she bakes and eats. Made me crave hot fresh bread slices with butter. At that point, it could go whimsical or sci-fi direction. But it widened up well.

The Obesity Code - Unlocking the secrets of Weight Loss: by Jason Fung, MD

This book talks about various aspects that impact body weight. It has a textbook level details on various things, for which there are short videos or articles everywhere. Hence this book is better.

Role of Insulin in blood and insulin resistance on the increase in body weight; starting with explanation of insulin in type 1 & 2 diabetes. Role of cortisol in increasing body weight. Role of body's thermaset weight. Ineffectuality of various diets through the ages (low carb, etc) as they did not consider the role of foods on hormones and hormonal balance needed for balanced weight. And the fact that the user is blamed for failure by not following the diet. And the myth of exercise.

This books goal is to explain how constant eating keep insulin in blood all the itme which makes body resistant to insulin, hence sugar overload. And fasting periods brings periods of no insulin and helps keep the sensisitivity alive. Also about the link of high insulin trigger by combination of  fructose and new wheat varieties.

The book might provide textbook level detail on this topic, but it is interesting written and structured.

Page 70: What causes weight gain ? Contending theories abound:

Sugar	Calories	Refined Carb	Wheat
All carbs	Dietary fat	Red meat	All meat
Dairy products	Snacking	Food reward	Food addiction
Sleep deprivation	Stress	Low fiber intake	Gut microbiome
Genetics	Poverty	Wealth	Childhood obesity

 The various theories fight among themselves, as if they are all mutually exclusive and there is only one true cause of obesity. ... This approach is wrong since these theories all contain some element of truth.

Page 102: Great er compliance was supposed to be the one main benefits of ... approach, since there was no need for calorie counting. ....Compliance in both groups was equally low in both groups, with upwards of 40 percent abandoning the diet within one year. The outcome was somewhat predictable. The ... diet severely restricted highly  indulgent foods such as cakes, etc. These foos are clearly fattening, no matter what diet you beleive in. We continue to eat them simply because they are indulgent. Food is a celebration and feasting has accompanied celebration throughout human history. .... The ...diet does not allow for this simple fact and that doomed it to failure. 

Page 103: The carb-insulin hypothesis was incomplete. ... There are many problems, with the paradox of the Asian rice eater being obvious. Most Asians, for the last half-century, ate a diet based on white, polished rice, a highly refined carb. Yet until recently, obesity remained quite rare in these populations.

Page 105: One possiblity is that there is an important difference in eating rice vs wheat. .... Western obesity rates are related to the changes in the variety of wheat we are eating...suggests that the drawf wheat that we eat today may be far different from the original wheat.

Page 112: Insulin Resistance: Major Player. Antibiotics, Viruses & Drugs cause antibiotic resistance. Higher does cause more resistance. Same with insulin....

Page 115: Insulin resistance causes high insulin - a classic vicious or self-reinforcing cycle. The higher the insulin levels, the greater the insulin resistance. The greater the resistance, the higher the levels. ... The longer the cycle continues, the worse it becomes ...That resistance leads to high insulin levels that are independent of that persons diet.

Page 205: Nutritionism ignore complexity of food science and human biology.

Page 2:16: Virtually all diseases of the human body are multifacotrial. ... Obesity is multifactorial disease. What we need is a framework, a structure, a coherent theory to understand how all its factors fir together.

Life in the Fasting Lane - How to make Intermittent fasting a lifestyle - And reap the benefits of weight loss and better health
By Dr Jason Fung, Eve Mayer, Megan Ramos

A How-to book giving practical tips on how to fast.

How to gradually slide into fasting 12 hours, 18:6, 20:4, OMAD, Extended fasts like 24hrs, 36hrs etc.

How to prepare mentally when fasting. Now that there is all the free time, with less shopping, cooking, dishwashing & cleanup, we need different set of activities or the vacuum of boredom will suck us back in the whirlpool.

Balancing family responsibilities while being the only one fasting in a household.

Unlike religious fast, this one has different crutches through get through it. Like salt in water for electrolytes to avoid headaches, plus black coffee & hot herbal tea.

Complete Guide to Fasting - Heal your body through Intermittent, Alternate Day and Extended Fasting. by Dr Jason Fung with Jimmy Moore.

This was a fast read, I finished it in 3 days. Had a lot of practical advise.

And then some standard books with some relevant and some outdated information.

Older Reading lists: 2023 (1) | Entire Book list