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Dr. Jason Fung - 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem'

7 videos recommended on HN
YouTube
7 HN users recommended this talk8 months2017–2022 score 9
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN commenters repeatedly recommend it as a free, evidence-citing overview of fasting that counters worries about muscle loss and safety.

Dr. Jason Fung, a nephrologist, explains therapeutic fasting as a treatment for obesity and type 2 diabetes. He frames it around the two-compartment problem of fat storage and insulin resistance.

“I always recommend people watch this by Dr. Jason Fung” (HN, 2020)

3 strong recommendations · 10 recommendations · 3 citations · Talks

16 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@loceng Feb 2019 Strongly recommends
on HN thread Paul Graham on the Transition to Meat Substitutes
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Most people are omnivores, not carnivores as PG stated - however the trend seems to be moving towards the health benefits of eating as carnivore - a purely meat diet; it's the food you don't eat that improves health, meat is a healthy food for most people. We have the sugar lobby who paid researchers to create propaganda that fat was the culprit. We have companies incentivized to sell fad diets, we have every participant of the food industrial complex trying to push for their product to be consumed - and we have governments who are trying to keep the lobbyists happy and perhaps for the purpose of keeping the economy stable. They all aren't going to be promoting or funding research that will give results against their own interests. Two videos I recommend everyone watch relating to diet: Dr. Georgia Ede - 'Our Descent into Madness: Modern Diets and the Global Mental Health Crisis' - [link] Dr. Jason Fung - 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem' - [this video]
Recommended for everyone on diet and health.
@loceng Feb 2019 Strongly recommends
on HN thread Does Carnitine from Red Meat Cause Heart Disease?
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Scientists/researchers in the past were paid by to say that sugar wasn't bad for you, and that fat was the culprit - we know this now to not be true. There's research that emerging that is it's what you don't eat that - it's people who are eating meat + other bad things that causes problems and then allows the connection to meat as possibly being linked as the cause; there's barely any research of people just consuming meats and animal products. Two videos I recommend everyone watch: Dr. Georgia Ede - 'Our Descent into Madness: Modern Diets and the Global Mental Health Crisis' - [link] Dr. Jason Fung - 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem' - [this video] Imaging meat is fine and it's when you hurt the body with other harmful foods that then causes your body to not function as well to process meat and other foods properly - and where other systems to clear/clean the body aren't or can't function optimally (think inflammation, insulin, excess of food/availability of calories, etc) - and not specifically because of the meat? It's hard to know if oneself is ideology or propaganda, we've all been bombarded by things like government sponsored (influenced by food industrial complex) Food Pyramids, etc. our whole lives - or by fad diets looking to make money and marketing their own flavour of diet. The list goes on. Real research will happen that cuts through the confusion, people are waking up.
Recommended for everyone on diet and health.
@loceng Jun 2020 Strongly recommends
on HN thread Intermittent fasting works – not only for weight loss but also for heart health
An accelerated version of intermittent fasting is longer term fasting - ideal minimum being 3 days, although even only being able to handle 24 hours at first is a great start; the next ideal number of days is 5 days, then 10 days, then 20 days based on different changes that occur at those periods. I always recommend people watch this by Dr. Jason Fung: 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem' - [this video]
Always recommended on longer-term fasting.
@fast_throwaway Feb 2017 Recommends
on HN thread Live slow, die old: Mounting evidence for caloric restriction in humans
Dr. Jason Fung, a Canadian Nephrologist is an encyclopedic resource for the impacts of calorie restriction and fasting. While he has a couple (really good) books, the following presentation is a nice overview of his work, findings and results of therapeutic fasting: 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem' [this video]
Nice overview of Fung's work on therapeutic fasting.
@RobertRoberts Mar 2018 Recommends
on HN thread Complete and Voluntary Starvation of 50 days
I am aware that extreme fasting is dangerous, but so is extreme water drinking.[0] But fasting in general seems to be stigmatised. Dr. Jason Fung [1] has some fascinating videos on Youtube about why fasting isn't bad. I am just curious why there's a mainstream view that it's bad and the exception is that it's good, vs the other way around? [0] [link] [1] [link] [this video] Edit: Dr. Fung points out one common misconception that fasting causes muscle to be eroded.
Explains why fasting is not bad, including muscle loss myth.
@RobertRoberts Mar 2018 Recommends
on HN thread Complete and Voluntary Starvation of 50 days
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I read the link you posted [0] and it did not say distilled water is bad for you. I don't disagree with the statement "extreme fasting can be dangerous". > You have insecurity... Why are you making this personal? > break down your body, lose muscle, produce ammonia, urea, and all sorts of toxins, pull out stored toxins and use them because your body is so desperate on its low reserves of vital nutrients..and destroy your organs. Bravo! According to this video _none_ of that happens. He addresses all of those claims. (provides proof from actual medical studies) [this video] The medical studies he presents (not his own) state the opposite of what you are saying. If you don't want to watch the video, I think this article is similar: [link] This does of course detract from your argument that distilled water is bad for you. [0] [link]
Addresses claims that fasting harms the body, with studies.
@loceng Feb 2020 Recommends
on HN thread Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science
You didn't mention fasting (non-intermittent) so I'll leave this video here: [this video] - "Dr. Jason Fung - 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem'"
Covers extended fasting missing from the discussion.
@ravenstine Feb 2020 Recommends
on HN thread Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?
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I wouldn't say there's any one good resource. Most people preach intermittent fasting, which I've found is okay for maintenance and health but it's not nearly as beneficial nor will it lose you as much weight as fasting for days on end. But here's some material I went over to educate myself and convinced me that it's perfectly safe: Fasting vs. Eating Less: What's the Difference? (Science of Fasting) [link] Dr. Jason Fung - 'Therapeutic Fasting - Solving the Two-Compartment Problem' [this video] Beginners Guide to Prolonged Fasting | 24-72 Hour Fasting Instructions [link] ^^ Not exactly a fan of Thomas DeLauer but there's some good information there. If you aren't faint of heart, check out some videos on the "Snake Diet" channel on YouTube. Cole is kind of a lunatic, constantly swears, and holds nothing back. He does this to be motivational. He's wrong about a few things(he thinks fasting cures everything and also thinks vaccines are bad), but when it comes to fasting properly he's pretty spot on. I just took from him what I thought made sense and left the rest behind. The best idea I got from him was the "snake juice", which is really just an electrolyte mixture you can make at home. It really makes all the difference. Overall, I wish there was someone who could preach this stuff without the Cole's level of insanity, but there you have it.
Material that convinced commenter prolonged fasting is safe.
@lukifer Feb 2020 Recommends
on HN thread Signs of cancer can appear long before diagnosis, study shows
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I've only done 3-days and not 7, but for n=1: - make sure to consume salt (adding to water is the easiest); if anything, err on the side of both too much water, and too much salt (we normally consume a lot of both through food). - Some people still consume certain zero-calorie items, like black coffee, green tea, or bone broth. You still get most of the fasting benefits, and it might be a good way to start (bone broth with added salt is a great way to keep electrolytes up, and fill your stomach). - I experienced a bit of back pain; apparently muscle pains are common, especially with new fasters. Accounts vary on this being evidence of "detox", or a side effect of mineral deficiency; but supplementing minerals in water probably couldn't hurt. - Dr. Jason Fung is a great resource: [this video] - You'll find it odd that you don't know what to do during mealtimes. :) Have a plan for another way to take a break during lunchtime, etc. - Optional: it's vastly easier if you start already in ketosis (IF and/or low-carb)
Fung is a great resource for extended fasting.
@loceng May 2022 Recommends
on HN thread Ask HN: How to break anxiety/fear-avoidance cycle?
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Have you ever tried water fasting? The reason I ask/suggest is that when water fasting (which isn't starvation mode, starvation mode happens when you're regularly enough eating calories keeping your digestive system going - but not enough to actually provide your body with what it needs) is that when fasting your body 1) burns more calories so you'll have more energy available (to your body and brain) than if eating food, and 2) your body produces more adrenaline - so you have more mental energy too. I wonder if this relatively simple/quick "hack" could give you an experience that may help you have the mental energy, and get rid of brain fog that some foods you eat may also be causing you, to see if this shakes things up enough where your focus and therefore concentration sharpens? Start out with 24 hours while drinking a ton of water, and based on seeing how you feel - see if you can make it to 3 days (72 hours); starting at 7pm means at 7am you're already at 12 hours, and 7pm next day already 1 of 3 days done; you have to drink a surprising amount of water, I usually stop at 4pm so I'm not having to get up in the night. I recommend weighing yourself each morning and logging it just to have some numbers to passively start developing a more thorough understanding of how your body works in relation to food. Perhaps it sounds too simple, too good to be true, but I have had this experience and others too. Here's a 30 minute video by Dr. Jason Fung explaining by water fasting is
30 minute explanation of water fasting.

Citations, criticism and jokes

@loceng Aug 2020 Cites it
on HN thread Adding a metre between meals boosts vegetarian appeal – study
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I'll share what I know and ask what I can. My longest fast was 10 days. The first time I fasted what I discovered was it was my mind telling me I was hungry, not my body. There's a pizza chain where I live called Pizza Pizza, bright orange background with white lettering. It was a 3 day fast and on the second day as I was walking that big bright sign around dinner popped up into my head, and I was like "Oh, I'll have pizza tonight for dinner." And then I realized I wasn't hungry. It taught me that we develop mental triggers, reminders, for when to eat - and that's pretty much why advertising works to manipulate us, and it does it very well; many if not most people are driven by their ego mind constantly being on and are disconnected from feeling their body properly - signals like hunger, etc. We get trained young to eat foods that don't make us feel well, and the mind then over time pulls our attention and connection to our body away from us. You may have some of this ego mind thought patterns to clear, that's telling you very strongly that you need to eat "or else you'll die" - instead of being able to relax and trust that (unless you're underweight) that your body will simply switch to energy in your fat reserves. When fasting what happens really depends on what your diet is beforehand. If it's ketogenic then you're not also having to deal with the transition to your brain burning ketones. What's your normal diet, and do you take electrolyte supplement? Perhaps too personal
@loceng May 2022 Cites it
on HN thread Fasting boosts stem cells’ regenerative capacity (2018)
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Re: 'People talk about these "wondrous" effects of fasting. All I got was headaches, tiredness, feeling sick and constantly thinking about food.' It sounds like you went into it without understanding the processes that will be unfolding - you didn't do enough research, otherwise you'd understand the symptoms you described. The first time you fast will always be the roughest - most challenging too, especially since you've likely been eating highly inflammatory foods your whole life, likely without any break - and so by removing those foods and that inflammation from your body and brain, your brain is going to start functioning differently - and better. Your brain 1) has to prune the pathways that were dependant on such a high level of sugar in your system (and not running off of ketones), and 2) inflammation has a depressant effect on the nervous system - and so you're essentially self-medicating to depress yourself when eating inflammatory food - and when you remove that, that depression is going to life, so your brain is going to want to start working faster as well - and so there will be pathways that will want to open up again that are no longer being suppressed-depressed. It's also possible you weren't drinking enough water - or something was off with the electrolytes amount; you don't need any electrolytes or supplements if doing 3 days or less. Refeeding syndrome is also a myth or rather it's a concept that formed from misunderstanding and poor guidance: "you have to ea

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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