Jason Fung Misrepresents Research

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On Instagram this week, I was repeatedly sent an interview between Jason Fung and Tom Bilyeu on the Impact Theory podcast, asking for my opinions on it.
The title of the podcast (or caption, on Instagram) was "Why Cutting Calories Won't Help You Lose Weight" and I felt compelled to make a video response.
The thing is, lots and lots of people get great results with low carb and intermittent fasting diets (yay, I am happy for anyone who is happy, of course) but at what point do you draw a line between someone being a proponent of a diet that gets good results and some of the information they present being misleading?
For example, weight loss success rates in the long-term are notoriously low, but Jason Fung conflates energy balance with calorie counting (not the same thing) and implies that regulating insulin will overcome this issue.
... but adherence rates on low carb diets are not significantly better and adherence rates on intermittent fasting protocols are not significantly better. Neither of these reliably result in more significant weight loss than alternative plans (they do in some studies but don't in others).
Jason Fung cites examples to prove his point that calorie counting does not work, yet some of these studies are not about calorie counting at all, and he seems to not acknowledge the body of literature showing dietary self-monitoring can help weight loss outcomes, and even weight loss maintenance success rates.
He implies that metabolic downregulation is so sudden and so pronounced that it stops weight loss, despite the fact research studies examining metabolic adaptation study participants post weight loss. Metabolic adaptation and metabolic downregulation occur in response to reducing your calorie intake (or obtaining a negative energy deficit through exercise) but somewhat in tandem with weight loss, not at the expense of weight loss.
I am all for people finding things that work for them, and offer much support to people who like low carb and intemittent fasting diets (I do as well, although not to everyone) but that shouldn't be a free pass to misrepresent research and cause confusion about what 'calories in vs calories out' actually is, the underlying mechanism which is unavoidable (unfortunately).
There are many more examples I wanted to discuss but this video was already getting much longer than usual, feel free to ask questions if you would like. :)
References:
- Low-Fat Dietary Pattern and Weight Change Over 7 Years The Women’s Health Initiative Dietary Modification Trial
- Self-Monitoring May Be Necessary for Successful Weight Control
- Log Often, Lose More: Electronic Dietary Self-Monitoring for Weight Loss
- The role of self-monitoring in the maintenance of weight loss success
- Self-Monitoring in Weight Loss: A Systematic Review of the Literature
- The challenge of keeping it off, a descriptive systematic review of high-quality, follow-up studies of obesity treatments
- Long-term weight-loss maintenance: a meta-analysis of US studies
- Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone Diets for Weight Loss and Heart Disease Risk Reduction. A Randomized Trial
- Effect of intermittent compared to continuous energy restriction on weight loss and weight maintenance after 12 months in healthy overweight or obese adults
- Metabolic adaptation to caloric restriction and subsequent refeeding: the Minnesota Starvation Experiment revisited
- No consistent evidence of a disproportionately low resting energy expenditure in long-term successful weight-loss maintainers
- Physiological responses to slimming
- Low-carbohydrate diets for overweight and obesity: a systematic review of the systematic reviews
- Intermittent fasting and weight loss. Systematic review
- Intermittent versus continuous energy restriction on weight loss and cardiometabolic outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
- Effectiveness of Intermittent Fasting and Time-Restricted Feeding Compared to Continuous Energy Restriction for Weight Loss

[@mikeysaint4368]

Jason is what some would call a liar. Not me, but a lot would. They'd call him a charlatan too, probably.

[@briagarri275]

I agree. My only suggestion is if you want to lose weight keep anything hyper palatable at bay. if my food choices are whole foods I don't feel compelled to eate too much. I can see that after a short time off of sugar, if I have something sweet as low on the bar as ketchup I go crazy for more. I don't think it's just me by simple observation.

[@535Salomon]

Bro, reducing my calorie intake was the answer for my weight loss 😭 people like Jason Fung just removes that hope from people. Also my favorite macro is fiber and protein so I usually have 50% of my calories from carbs followed by protein and at least my fat intake is no higher than 50 grams a day (I mostly stick to fat coming from food)

[@carneades4409]

Hey, thank you for making these videos. I wish I'd come across them when I was trying to figure out weight loss last year!

[@2702foxy]

I did not know anything about keto until after I decided to drastically cut my carb intake and cut out all processed foods. Mainly because of pre diabetes. As result I have started eating twice a day, only because i am simply not hungry. If I compare how much food I ate before and now , there is definitely less calories even though I do not specifically count them.

[@Trener_Artem]

Is Jason Fung himself believes what he is saying? I honestly cant say.

[@GVS]

Me neither. He's a wonderful troll.

[@user-fk8rb8ue5h]

If he is a doctor he will have done his research and he knows that he's a lying bastard. But what he has found is a niche in the market that's making him money. There is nothing more of an incentive keep peddling quack cures than having a financial vested interest which you are likely to lose it if you change track.

[@PSA78]

He ticks off pretty much every single box for a psychopath, so take a wild guess and decide if it even matters. ;)

[@Frank_Jones314]

According to what Jason Fung is saying, we could all simply stop eating altogether, and we would not lose any weight. So, if he is to be taken seriously (and I am very much saddened that apparently people do take him seriously), then world hunger has been solved.

[@thomaskant4538]

Good shit you earned a new sub

[@Mrsminamc]

Great video!🎉🎉🎉

[@dyderich]

Calorie deficit = weight loss. How you get there is different for everybody.

[@dub16100]

I’m kind of happy to hear this. I’m a 2 + 2 = 4 guy and I understand the ‘burn more than you consume’ philosophy. It makes sense to me and I feel that I can do this. ....Some of the other ideas (like Dr Fung) get my head spinning.

[@leondarnel77]

Love your work man. 💪

[@BenCarpenter]

Thank you very much 🙂

[@Lulumajorca]

I remember the last video you did of him and how his cultish followers were foaming at the mouth in reaction to your critiques. I understand that simplifying weight loss by saying “fasting/low carb diets work best” can be the most practical message for the segment of the population who don’t want to count calories or haven’t had much weight loss success in the past, but now I see people regularly spewing misinformation based on Dr. Fung’s books and lectures. There’s always a person in the comment section of a fitness video who loves to call CICO bullshit and then cite Dr. Fung as their source. I don’t understand how an MD can peddle such blatantly false information (who am I kidding, it’s the money). Hopefully his followers are able to apply better discernment now...

[@BenCarpenter]

I completely get it, low carb and fasting plans both have a very strong benefit going for them, likely reduction in ad libitum food intake so lots of people (not all) get results without calorie tracking, which is awesome. But I don’t think this is a legitimate reason to just make shit up? If he changed his narrative I probably wouldn’t make any videos on him at all. It isn’t a lot to ask for someone to just be honest with their marketing. “Calorie controlled diets are hard to follow, I think these methods work really well” is fine, saying “calorie deficits don’t work” is just straight up lying lol.

[@Lulumajorca]

Yes to everything. His purposeful misinterpretation of the literature is actually quite disturbing. He clearly has an invested interested in keeping his followers blind. Good on you for not letting up on his lies

[@axileus9327]

Cico is just putting less food in your body. That’s not a serious revelation to say you will lose weight if you starve yourself. Health is more than your weight so calorie counting isn’t even in the right universe of improving health.

[@DP-bi8qt]

Why does “metabolic adaptation” only seem to go one way? If your body adapts it’s caloric requirements from cutting calories why wouldn’t it do the same when you eat too much? It’s so frustrating when people use their credentials to lend credence to obviously bogus arguments.

[@kaleabgmariam6133]

it does !!!!!!!

[@axileus9327]

It does. Health is more to do with eating the right thing, the amount is important but not fundamental.

[@ElizabethUkeh]

It does! But same as in weight loss, it doesn't stop weight gain from happening

[@jleffel6969]

That's a shame. I like his books. I do think there's some credence to the thermic effect of food and insulin effect of food. However, to misrepresent research is a major flaw in the peer-review system.

[@BenCarpenter]

I really appreciate this reply. It takes a lot for someone to say "I like their books but misinformation isn't ok". Also, I think there are genuinely lots of positives to low carb and intermittent fasting plans. One of the biggest ones for both is that they often spontaneously encourage people to eat less food so they are quite easy to implement (which might be one of the reasons that the alternatives are often described as requiring calorie counting?) which are good things, if he sold them on this premise without all the other stuff around why calorie deficits will kill your metabolism, I wouldn't have any issues at all. Even when lots of people get good results, the misinformation is not a victimless crime.

[@SuperDarren1983]

Oh man i love this. The amount of drivel I hear and its just Fung disciples regurgitating his already chewed up nonsense is unbelievable. Great work Ben

[@thomassmith4903]

well done Ben Carpenter

[@BenCarpenter]

Thank you sir

[@MikeFrame]

Dr. Fung was a well respected doctor among mainstream medicine in Toronto as his team was going to take my family member's case and there was reverence implied in this... Anyways I have always been skeptical of this doctor and mainstream medicine extreme fasting / ketogenic interventions that seems to me to be very risky and exotic. I think 'novelty' in experimental medical research propels some doctors to fame and reverence but this has hardly anything to do with prudent and tried and true methods for safety and gradual improvements. My 2 cents.

[@FitandPerform]

Jason is one of the biggest abusers of science. Not knowing the difference between counting calories and calorie restriction is shameful! Misrepresenting and disregarding evidence, again shameful! Funny enough time-restricted feeding has shown to produce caloric restriction without calorie counting, so some might not like to hear this but guess what energy balance matters. All that said, I agree with everything you said👏🏻

[@niggtendo]

Academics deliberately cherry picking and misrepresenting studies and research for personal gain, what a shock. Seriously though good job on calling him out, my father frequently sends me videos by this guy and now I finally have proper content to send back.

[@GVS]

He's *astonishingly* full of it.

[@henrytavarez1952]

Damn didn't know fasting causes a plateau in weight loss. Just don't eat if you want to lose weight it's just that simple. No need to count calories lol

[@BenCarpenter]

Who said fasting causes a plateau in weight loss?

[@henrytavarez1952]

@@BenCarpenter all I'm saying is their is no need to count calories just fast longer brah

[@BenCarpenter]

@@henrytavarez1952 that doesn’t actually change or dispute anything I said in the video

[@henrytavarez1952]

@@BenCarpenter brother not going to argue with you but the human body is full of hormones doesn't really count calories. All it know is if there is no food start eating reserves has been like that for millions of years. Calories in and out is mathematical equation invented by mankind. Just by eating constantly your telling your body store fat, store fat store fat. It's just the reason we have survived to this day we are hunters and gathers not calorie counters. If that were that fact we would just "sit under a tree" if we ate 500 calories for the day to lose weight.. If we supplied the magnificent body with just enough calories to burn. We are analog creatures , wish we were digital with calories but unfortunately we are full of signals that trigger hormones.

[@BenCarpenter]

@@henrytavarez1952 your comments seem tangential from the actual video topic. He misrepresents research related to calories, metabolic adaptation and weight loss, that's all. Lots of things in your comment aren't really accurate or don't make sense but given your first and second comment I am not sure we are going to have a super objective discussion.

[@user-fk8rb8ue5h]

I'm nearer 70 than 60 and believe me I know a little bit. The bottom line is this if you study and stick to the nutritional guidelines and advice RE NHS and British Heart Foundation you're not going far wrong. When it comes to sports nutrition, Anita Bean takes some beating. You are absolutely right in your assertion about Jason Fung. The thing is, once you know the truth you only after dig a little bit to find people like Fung Popper, McGregor, Lustig and even Michael Mosley skew research and use pseudoscience to peddle their opinions. Beware of anyone who tell tells people to discard or severely restict any food group.The sad fact is many people go for fad diets or diets that let them eat the foods they like in excess. Thanks for sound advice. www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/ask-the-expert/paleo-diet www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/ask-the-expert/fast-diet www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/ten-weight-loss-myths/ anitabean.co.uk/?doing_wp_cron=1620719600.2866730690002441406250

[@protogionlastname6003]

"Ben Carpenter Misrepresents Jason Fung" more like

[@BenCarpenter]

Except I am literally responding to direct things he said and has continued to say lol

[@mickeytollison]

Jason Fung is infinitely smarter than the guy making this video and all of us commenting on this video.

[@BenCarpenter]

Seems a bit odd that you would make that claim on a video clearly displaying evidence of him misrepresenting research. You know you can like someone and still admit when they are wrong? That's ok.

[@PSA78]

I would say that Jason is smart, but he lacks a tremendous amount of depth perception and or isn't really That smart. He makes continues failures in his presentation and disprove himself all the time due to this, so either he isn't grasping the subject or he's careful to not talk about what would disprove what he says. Oh, and if you want to set up a test with him against me, let me know. ;) We could complement with full psychoanalysis, that would be Really fun!! :D

[@norgeoslotoyen]

@@BenCarpenter people like you are the real problem to this world ..Jason fung who helped a lot of people and yet you are bullshitting him what good can you do to people who needs acute help most likely nothing since you believe in bullshitt research..

[@BenCarpenter]

@@norgeoslotoyen yes, I am the real problem with this world. The guy who spent 13 years making *free* social media content, while people like Jason Fung repeatedly told people that calories don’t matter, endorsed fat loss detox tea and sold fasting coaching programmes. Slow clap for you not even realising how hard you got played.

[@norgeoslotoyen]

@@BenCarpenter I have never bought anything from Jason fung but I used he's knowledge about fasting to reverse my diabetic and so on and learned how to lose weight and maintain my weight.. well see in some years that you and your "research" are worth nothing

[@dreamervanroom]

The first statement by B.C. in this video misrepresents Dr. Fung. And B.C. usesdirty words ad hominum. I am done.

[@BenCarpenter]

The first statement was “a lot of people on Instagram sent me this video…” which is very correct.