Why we get fat You consume refined sugar which causes your insulin (storage hormone) to spike. Insulin stores any fat that you have in the cells closest to the liver and pancreas. As you spike your insulin more and more the next closest cells with room to store sugar and fat are then filled up. Everyone gets fat at the liver first, then stomach, then limbs, and finally in places that are not meant to be storage sites (including arteries, eyes, around our organs, etc.). There are plenty of foods that raise our insulin levels but refined sugar is especially lethal due to its fructose component. Fructose is at least half of every sugar molecule. If you eat a pound of table sugar half of that pound would be glucose (which a healthy body can easily metabolize in just about every cell) and the other half would be fructose (which has to be almost exclusively metabolized in your liver). When fructose hits the liver cells it hijacks the cell’s natural metabolism and creates uric acid. This uric acid synthesis begins to damage the cell’s mitochondria. A healthy cell’s mitochondria can burn glucose one minute then immediately switch back to burning body fat the next minute. This is called mitochondrial flexibility. The damaged mitochondria lose this ability to burn body fat as fuel and continue to burn only sugar. Because it is not being used, the fat in the cell continues to build up until it becomes full. Once there is no more room for storage the cell becomes resistant to insulin’s signal to store more fat and sugar. This damage leads to insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperuricemia. These three states are the trigger for weight gain and just about every chronic western disease. Now that you have a significant amount of damaged liver cells just about every food that raises insulin will cause you to gain weight. Foods that would never be a problem otherwise (potatoes, rice, wheat, fruit) are now harmful because of their effect on insulin. How to lose weight Every single person that has had any success losing weight has spiked their insulin less often than they usually do. The problem is that this only deals with the symptoms of weight gain. It does not address the actual cause, which is the damaged mitochondria in the liver. You must get rid of the damaged liver cells to have any lasting weight loss. There is only one way that your body can break down these damaged cells and replace them with new, healthier cells and it is called autophagy. Autophagy This is your body’s natural recycling system. If a cell is damaged, old, or unnecessary it will get broken down and recycled or destroyed. Autophagy only happens in the absence of insulin. In most of us, that means while we are sleeping because it is usually the only time we stop eating for more than three hours. Every hour you don’t eat, autophagy gains more strength. The strength of autophagy is measured by the presence of autophagosomes inside the cells. After 24-hours fasted, autophagosome formation skyrockets to more than 300% the damaged liver cells alongside a significant rise of autophagosomes in the brain tissue. Autophagy is essentially an anti-aging process. You must fast for autophagy to do its job. Fasting This is the act of consciously deciding to go without food. It is not starvation. Most of us fast every night while we are asleep and this is the only time the body has to repair itself. When you wake up in the morning you are burning your stored body fat for fuel. The longer you can extend this (or the earlier you start), the more fat you will lose.