The Hunger Code - (Dr. Jason Fung Code) by Jason Fung (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

THE FOLLOW-UP TO THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER THE OBESITY CODE BY ACCLAIMED NEPHROLOGIST AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR, JASON FUNG, MD

"Jason Fung nails it again in The Hunger Code. This book clearly and compellingly explains why most Americans are overweight and gives us a concise, evidence-based way to manage our weight with as little hunger as possible."--Dan Buettner, New York Times bestselling author of The Blue Zones

The Obesity Code helped thousands of people lose weight naturally.

The Hunger Code will help thousands more lose weight--and keep it off--in an era of weight-loss drugs and ultra-processed foods...without counting calories.

For generations, we've accepted the story that weight loss can never last--that as soon as we go off the diet or stop taking the medication, we revert to our old habits, regain the weight, and the calorie-counting journey starts all over again. Traditional medicine continues to treat the symptom of weight gain rather than addressing its root causes. Too often, healthcare systems intervene with quick fixes and short-term solutions, ignoring the factors that lead to sustainable weight loss that can last a lifetime.

What if the secret to long-term weight maintenance and better health isn't just about what you eat--or even when you eat--but why you eat?

With the food industry's reliance on ultra-processed foods and the popularity of Ozempic and Mounjaro, understanding the forces behind why we eat is more important than ever before.

In The Hunger Code, New York Times bestselling author Dr. Jason Fung reveals the three powerful forces that drive us to eat:

• Physical Hunger
• Emotional Hunger
• Social Hunger

Dr. Fung also introduces the concept of the body's "fat thermostat"--a biological "set point" that regulates how much fat your body tries to maintain. Guided by hormones and metabolism, this internal system drives hunger and energy use, explaining why lasting weight loss requires more than just willpower ...

With three Golden Rules and 50 actionable tips, The Hunger Code empowers you to recognize and respond to hunger appropriately. Learn how to slow digestion, break emotional eating cycles, and overcome social pressures to eat constantly, so you can maintain a healthy weight--from scratch, after fasting, or after using weight-loss drugs.

Review Quotes

"This is an important contribution to the conversation about nutrition."
--Publisher's Weekly

"The Hunger Code offers a clear and practical way to understand why weight regulation is not simply about calories or willpower. Dr. Fung explains how hunger, hormones, and modern food environments disrupt the body's natural balance, making lasting change difficult without addressing the underlying biology."
--Christopher M. Palmer, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and author of Brain Energy

"The Hunger Code is the rare health read that works on multiple levels: it's a guide, a reference, a mindset, and a reality check.... It's smart and down-to-earth; quite possibly the most compassionate and practical health book you'll read this year. It might just be the last 'diet' guide you'll ever need."
--Baltimore Post-Examiner

"Jason Fung once again turns conventional nutrition advice on its head. In The Hunger Code, he exposes the flawed calorie-centric model of obesity and replaces it with a clear, science-driven understanding of how hormones, processed food, and environment shape our hunger. This is the book that finally connects the dots between metabolism, mindset, and modern food addiction. Anyone serious about reversing metabolic disease should start here."
--Robert Lufkin, MD, Physician, Professor, and NYT Bestselling Author of Lies I Taught in Medical School

"Why is it so hard to lose weight and keep it off? Because you eat too much. Why do you overeat? Because you're hungry. Why are you so hungry? Dr. Jason Fung has a knack for getting to the bottom of things, explaining how metabolism works in a way everyone can understand, and making the solutions to complicated problems seem ridiculously obvious. He filled this book with fascinating facts about food, hunger hormones, and eating habits, and then boiled them all down into 50 weight loss tips you can choose from to help you reset your appetite and regain control over your life and health. This book will empower and enlighten everyone who reads it."
--Georgia Ede MD, internationally bestselling author of Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind

"The Hunger Code is a true game changer: read it to stop feeling controlled by hunger and start feeling in control of your body."
--Amy Shah, MD, bestselling author of I'm So Effing Tired and I'm So Effing Hungry

"We've blamed willpower when we should have blamed wiring. In The Hunger Code, Dr. Jason Fung cuts through diet dogma with clear science and calm conviction, showing that hunger isn't a failure of discipline--it's a matter of hormones. This is metabolic truth-telling at its finest."
--Benjamin Bikman, PhD, author of Why We Get Sick and How Not To Get Sick

"Jason Fung nails it again in The Hunger Code. This book clearly and compellingly explains why most Americans are overweight and gives us a concise, evidence-based way to manage our weight with as little hunger as possible. Remarkably, his research has yielded a strategy very similar to the way the world's longest-lived people have remained thin, and gotten the most good years out of life. Read this book and we'll see you when you're 100!"
--Dan Buettner, National Geographic Fellow, Emmy Award-winning producer and 5x New York Times bestselling author of The Blue Zones

"How can one be overweight yet constantly hungry? Why is it so hard to "just count calories" to lose weight and get healthy? The Hunger Code explains why we can be overfed, yet insatiably hungry. Leaning on his decades of clinical experience, Dr. Fung unravels how ultra processed foods affect both our hormones and our brain in ways that make overeating all too easy. Fear not! Armed with this information you can make easy, incremental changes that will help you to hack your "Hunger Code", lose weight and regain your health."
--Robb Wolf, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paleo Solution and Wired to Eat

"In The Hunger Code, Dr. Jason Fung once again delivers a masterclass in breaking free from the lies of diet culture and the grip of ultra-processed foods. This book goes beyond calories and willpower to uncover the deeper forces--physical, emotional, and social--that drive us to overeat. By resetting your body's fat thermostat and reclaiming control over hunger, Dr. Fung gives readers the blueprint for lasting weight loss and, more importantly, metabolic freedom. If you're ready to stop battling your body and finally work with it, this is the book you've been waiting for."
--Ben Azadi, New York Times bestselling author of Metabolic Freedom

"The Hunger Code is a brilliant and empowering guide that dives deep into the physical, emotional, and social drivers of hunger, offering practical, science-backed solutions to break free from the cycle of overeating and cravings. This book doesn't just address what we eat but how and why we eat, providing actionable strategies like prioritizing high-fiber foods, timing carbohydrates, and avoiding ultra-processed foods to optimize digestion, lower insulin, and reduce fat storage.

"What I like most is how it goes beyond the plate, encouraging readers to cultivate awareness of their eating behaviors and align their lifestyle and social environment with a healthy mindset. This holistic approach resonates deeply with my own philosophy of addressing root causes and empowering sustainable change.

"If you've ever felt trapped by constant hunger or emotional eating, The Hunger Code is your roadmap to freedom and vibrant health. I highly recommend it!"
--Dr. Anna Cabeca, DO, OBGYN, FACOG, author of The Hormone Fix and Keto-Green 16

About the Author

Dr. Jason Fung is the New York Times bestselling author of multiple critically acclaimed science and health books including The Obesity Code, The Diabetes Code, The Obesity Code Cookbook, The Diabetes Code Cookbook, The Diabetes Code Journal, and The Hunger Code. Dr. Fung completed medical school at the University of Toronto and a fellowship in nephrology at Stanford University, and is now a practicing nephrologist (kidney doctor) and co-founder of The Fasting Method, a program to help people lose weight and reverse type 2 diabetes and obesity. He lives in Toronto.