Kind: captions
Language: en
is it the foods that you're eating or is
it the amount that you're eating or is
it the timing that you're eating because
all of those are actually important
factors the great thing about fasting is
that you can simply Dr William Lee here
physician author and scientist uh I am
actually um doing a this video series to
bring on my friends and colleagues
people that I actually know and uh share
in a lot of stuff in common to have a
conversation about um things that we
care about and you know so so you guys
can actually be a little bit of a fly in
thewall and hear what do people like us
actually talk about in in real life and
um today I'm actually joined really
pleased to have my good friend Dr Jason
fun who's in Canada he's an MD like me
he's a
nephologist um you know kidney kidney
guy uh you know I I I used to always
Marvel uh when I was in medical school
at the people who do did nephology
because the kidney seems simple but it's
incredibly complicated and it actually
controls you know your whole kind of
like Destiny of how well you do like you
can live with a lot a lot of other stuff
but your kidneys pretty much you know
like if you don't have those in good
shape you're you're you're you're doomed
um uh so anyway I I brought uh J because
he's one of these um like me somebody
that was
trained um in the factory uh but somehow
we wound up busting out and realizing
that there was so there was a whole
other world out there that we had to get
in touch with so I went to the
Mediterranean to do some research for my
next book it's on metabolism and I was
searching stuff online and I was
thinking about metabolism and I was
thinking about somehow it was almost
like the the the YouTube Gods actually
knew that I was thinking about it and lo
and behold they started serving up your
videos so I watched a few but um here I
was in the summertime in the
Mediterranean it's a beautiful surround
by beautiful environment and I was
thinking about this whole idea of
fasting so
summer I usually have a little bit of a
less structured day my summer pattern is
very different than my regular school
year pattern or whatever you want to
call it um and then when you're on
vacation a lot of people go on vacation
also very unstructured so how how do you
what like how should I be thinking about
summer structuring of of fasting or
eating or not eating and how do you do
it
um yeah thanks for uh having me on first
of all William it's great to be here
actually and I love your your uh
characterization of the the
factory because it really is it's like a
mass
production
um and and and so so yeah the fasting is
something which is very flexible and I
think that's really what we're all
looking for in the summer like you know
if you think about the school year for
example you know it's very structured
through September to sort of June for
for many people and then you sort of let
loose in the summer so there's less uh
sort of guidelines and stuff and that's
where fasting is really really helpful
because you don't really have to do it
uh a set way that is you could fast one
way and then next week do it a different
way and then the week after do it
different way so for example um I went
on vacation too uh just recently in
Greece and um my you were in Gree
yeah I was in Greece oh you may maybe
that's why the YouTube fed us we were we
were we were on the same maybe we're in
the same
Wi-Fi where in Greece did you go I went
to Athens and then I went for a few um
few days in Santorini no kidding I was
exactly on Santorini get out of here I'm
at okay now it it wasn't YouTube it was
probably the Wii that actually did it I
was in Athens and I was in cini I go to
this little village called I uh I don't
know if you saw in the sun yeah yeah I
went by it was I was in imle which was
oh that's a beautiful area with that
gigantic uh walk out with the church on
the very end of it uh it's a like a
little amazing amazing town I think
that's the highest spot on that island
so we're talk okay we're definitely G to
talk about what we ate in sanini but
tell me about the okay the less structur
stuff you went on vacation and how did
you handle it so so so the thing is that
you can do whatever you want right so
it's um you know I was with my family
there so it was uh you know and some
days there was breakfast uh which was
included and some days not so the thing
about the fasting is that you're not set
by any rules so on the days that I had
breakfast I I don't normally eat
breakfast because that's just what I'm
used to these days so I don't sort of
want it to require it but because it's
there and you know had a later breakfast
and then that was sort of it's okay
because you can make it up on the other
side if you want to still keep to that
fasting regimen you can eat earlier and
then sort of stop eating uh in the
afternoon it's very hot anyway so it's
it's sort of easy to do I find it a bit
difficult to eat too much when it's hot
it's I just find everything
uncomfortable right so um and I think a
lot of people are like that right so
that's that's the advantage and then
once I got back back I just went back
into my usual regimen I actually wound
up gaining some weight because I was on
holidays I was eating a lot of sort of
um you know trying all different things
some of which were very U stuff that I
wouldn't normally eat for example like
like like what would you not what would
you not normally eat like
Baka it was a classic there of course
I'm gonna try it right of course you're
gonna try it by the way you know the
interesting thing about baklava if you
were to break it apart you know I think
it's besides the butter and the super
sweet honey I mean there's other good
stuff in there like the walnuts and
stuff like that so I always I I I think
that it's it's interesting how some of
these desserts you know they start off
with some good dietary fiber in it but
it's got like then pound you with sugar
so that's how You' gain wait tell me how
you did this all right
look I was we were in the exact same
place and I was honestly this is after I
watched your video it's like it's crazy
we we could have just like texted each
other we could have gotten together and
just had had a meal together hey there
have you heard of intermittent fasting
I'm sure you have it's not what you eat
but it's about when you eat and I've got
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grab your free copy or scan the QR code
on the screen right now now let's get
back to the video so look inrease people
eat in a Mediterranean in general people
eat later that's just the that the
culture and I would imagine they
probably get up you know like still
reasonably early in the morning like not
not terribly later so what is it like
how do you think about because this is
what literally what I was trying to
contemplate like are people who eat
dinner late by their
culture um but still get up to go to
work and stuff like that um are they
less healthy because they're eating so
close to their bedtime or how do we do
is there any data like how do you think
about that there's there's um there's
some dat
and it's it's but it's very very uh
confounded of course because it's all
mixed in so not only the timing of the
meals but what you eat and how much you
eat it's all very much confounded
because it's all sort of um dict by that
location so is it is it the foods that
you're eating or is it the amount that
you're eating or is it the timing that
you're eating because all of those are
actually important factors so just
changing one single Factor doesn't
always change
factors example so some of the
especially Europe for example like if
you look at the portion sizes you know
if you're used to American portions
you're like whoa this is like half of
what I'm used that's just what they eat
like and shared food right exactly yeah
so instead of getting your own big
honking plate of a three-inch whatever
you know you're you're getting lots of
little pieces of things that you can
actually share yeah and and I think that
um so that sort of family style eating
is is is sometimes a little bit better
because a lot of times people when they
eat they're trained to eat until
everything's done so even if you're sort
of full there's this sort of well you
should just finish like you don't want
to yeah you don't want to waste it and
and of course that's from you know years
of sort of you know post war postwar
messaging exactly and and you know it's
expensive and you don't want to waste it
right so you don't want to whereas the
sort of if you're sharing then there's
no obligation to finish it because you
know and then a lot of times you'll have
stuff left over and you'll just pack it
or whatever to go but it's not any
individual responsibility to sort of
finish your plate and that's part of the
tradition of a lot of places and if
you're less hungry you don't feel so I
always thought it strange because it's
like whether you're hungry or not you
eat the same amount because it's
dictated by your Port by the portion
size like if you go to a restaurant it's
the same portion whether you're hungry
or not hungry most people will just
finish that it's it's just sort of human
nature um but it really shouldn't be
that that doesn't make any sense from a
physiologic standpoint if you're not
hungry then you should be eating less so
what's your what's your tip like how do
you do it yourself like I was I was also
thinking about this what are the cues
that you personally sense when you just
say you know I'm gonna stop I think the
best thing is one don't start because i'
I and I've had this and and I I this is
is I noticed this more on vacation
because my meals are sort of they were
more structured because of the
environment and you know where you are
and stuff and I noticed this few times
that there would be times that I wasn't
hungry at all I wouldn't you know I
would have normally just not eaten like
if I was at work you know and I'm not
hungry I'm not going to eat and there's
no reason to but because I was on
vacation for example and other people
wanted to eat so then as I started to
eat what I noticed which was
extremely um funny I thought is that I
wound up eating like almost a normal
meal whereas I actually could have
skipped that whole me but once you start
yeah it's actually very difficult to you
know just stop it because that little
bit of initial food gets you sort of
into that it sort of changes you from
you know not wanting to eat and being
full and I'm okay I don't need to eat to
hey I'm eating I'm out of well finish
this off finish my meal so it's always
strange to me and and I know this this
happens to a lot of people too is that
if you start you wind up doing the whole
thing as opposed to uh you actually I
just could have skipped the whole thing
now if I was trying to lose a lot of
weight for example then it's super
detrimental because you're eating you
can't lose weight while you're eating so
no matter what it is so you know if
you're not hungry then don't start and
and this is especially true um if you're
in a place like Greece and there's just
other stuff to do like you might want to
go hiking or if you're really hot you
might want to go for a swim eating is
not really what's foremost on your mind
because you know there's just just other
Beau and just because there's three
meals a day that we've been socially
conditioned to have doesn't mean that
you know we're robots to that you know
uh there and you know I think that
that's that's such an important Point um
so when you found yourself eating
despite your because of your environment
but despite your what you might
otherwise do um were you like how did
what what are your own cues for for um
limiting like stopping like do you do
you feel like like how do you get your
harachi bunme like what's your 80% or
50% or whatever stopping point like
what's your internal barometer on that I
think the the the only thing is just to
sort of try and do it mindfully just
sort of thinking am I really hungry
anymore um and of course external cues
do play a big role in that and that's
where sort of uh sharing meals is those
are the external cues so you sort of
gauge how much food is left and you know
who's eating a lot then you can sort of
scale back what you're eating because
you know you see somebody else's is is
hungry or something like that right and
that those are those sort of external
cues whereas if you get your own plate
then it's like okay I finish this amount
of food otherwise I'm wasting um but but
really trying to just take it slowly is
is the main thing when you're eating too
quickly and and that's true I think in a
lot of cases you wind up one not
savoring the food but you wind up just
you know you're not letting those
satiety signals work before you go um so
that's that's the main thing the other
thing that's easy of course is that they
don't um you know desserts as you know
you just want to stop that very quickly
like yes I'll I'll cheat a little bit
you know just to just to try some of the
local deltic cies and stuff but you know
for most meals I just didn't uh you know
if you stop dessert you're sort of like
halfway there yeah you know I did the
same thing I I somebody gave me some
Baka I had like one Little Fork full of
it to just to get the flavor and because
I I actually enjoy it uh years ago when
I I actually spent time living in Greece
during my Gap year so I I I did my Gap
year I think you and I talked about this
you know uh a separate private
conversation like before medical school
I I I went to Italy and I went to Greece
and I was really interested in the
culture and how they Incorporated food
as part of their identity and also how
they view this Continuum of food and
health um and disease
altoe um so you know I had eaten bakaba
before I took a little Fork I I didn't
actually finish it because it was just
like too I didn't feel like I needed to
finish it so all right so uh that's
super helpful like I I kind of feel like
I'm talking to the to the guy that I
should have texted so that we could have
actually compared notes while we're
eating me just figure it out all right
but so tell me was there I've been going
to sanin for many years you'd be you'd
be horrified how many times not
horrified you'd be delighted to know how
many times I've been there but um it's
one of my favorite places I love the
fact it's up on a cliff overlooking the
sea um I go to a place that's very quiet
and not very crowded and I and I
actually hold up to write my next book
there um because I needed to just have
like peace and and quiet and in a really
inspiring environment so was there
anything there had you been there before
no that's my first time it is stunning
was there anything that you ate there
that was memorable like I always think
about when I talk about my trips like
something that that some memorable food
like what was you what did you have that
was memorable and why I think what I
really enjoyed there one it was actually
everything was delicious but they had
this one
um thing there which was the seafood
musaka which I thought was just really
nice so musaka is sort of a shepherd's
pie type dish right but with eggplant so
there's a little bit of meat but then
there's a whole lot eggplant and I
actually love eggplant um uh and then
there's usually some kind of potato or
something mashed potato so sort of like
shepherd's pie but with a lot more
eggplant in it and I actually really
enjoy it it's in a creamy sauce us and
what they did here was that they changed
the meat the usually beef or pork to
Seafood so there's like you know there's
shrimp and Squid and fish in a sort of
tomatoey sauce with a lot of eggplants
still H and it was like this was really
really good wow it was it was good it
was like just uh it a nice fresh did it
still have a
cinnamony flavor to it like um it was a
more tomatoey cuz they changed the sauce
to base but uh you know it was it was
really nice you know so so it still had
eggplant so basically I I explain musaka
is kind of like a lasagna you sh PR a
good example I think of like like when I
make it it's like a lasagna you
alternate layers and you put a little B
Mell stuff on top and and one of the
distinctive flavors of the traditional
musaka is actually they use cinnamon
there's cinnamon in it so you get a
little bit of a unusual Twist of the of
the flavor I would found to be very
distinctive and there's a tomatoey thing
but um uh I love the idea of trying with
seafood uh yeah it was it was really
interesting I guess the cinnamon
probably wouldn't go so well with this
food so it was more of a tomatoey sort
of a more bright uh you know they had
the the acid of the tomato sauce and I
think a little bit of lemon and stuff so
more bright flavors then you'd see and
no bashal sauce right it's it was more
of a tomato based sauce but then with
the eggplant it really paired really
nicely because I think eggplant and
tomato sauce actually do pair quite
nicely yeah well I would have never have
thought of eggplant and seafood into a
musaka but I'm gonna go look up a recipe
now I'm gonna go I'm gonna go I love
this is what I love to do whenever I see
something new I'll actually go uh check
it out so um I was inspired by did you
have any did you sample any of the fabba
beans on Santorini yeah yeah I had some
of that and the tomato the local
tomatoes that they grow there on the
volcano yeah I love the FAA beans uh
they they cook them they puree them uh
and they put a little BT of olive oil
but what I what I thought was really
interesting um it's it's basically a
bean salad at room temperatures not at
warm uh and uh but what they what they
served it with that was interesting to
me were Caper leaves because Capers grow
wild on Santorini and so I had little
Capers too but but they actually these
like pickled it's probably brined Caper
leaves uh that also have some of the
coratin and stuff bioactiv actually from
the Capers themselves but it was sort of
placed like a layer on top of the fava
beans and so I ate them together and I
thought it was just a really unusual
novel for me uh way of getting two
different flavors right so the leaves um
they weren't crunchy but they had some
texture they had a little bite to it and
it was Briny uh uh and the fava beans
are very smooth and so you had two
different textures and two very
different kind of flavors I just hadn't
had it together before um I thought that
was really uh unusual and then the other
thing that I love always on Santorini
you probably did you try some of those
volcanic Tomatoes um I don't know if
they're on they call them local tomatoes
so I don't know if they're from the
volcano or not when they when they grow
them locally they because the The
Volcano soil is parched it's so hot
there um that they wind up being really
concentrated uh with uh of of they're
very sweet tomatoes and so I'm actually
doing some research now I brought some
of the dried stuff back I'm actually
going to take a look at the lycopene
levels and try to see if I can do some
comparison of the dried versions to see
uh what's on there what's in there so
yeah it's great I love having
conversations with friends who have been
to the same places about Foods um all
right so listen just to wrap up I would
love to um if you could tell me um how
do you do how do you
handle getting back into a healthy
eating pattern TimeWise with jet lag
when you come back like how did you
handle that yeah that's a really tough
one so some people wind up um you know
fasting until sort of you get to your
destination because you know the time
zones are they're seven hours there's a
time difference so you wind up with a
huge stretch the great thing thing about
fasting is that you can simply not eat
until you get to your destination and
then sort of fall back into those uh
things now it's easier obviously if
you're sleeping if there's like an
overnight thing but um that's that's
sort of the key to a lot of it is um you
know and it's it's almost the opposite
of what most people do which is that you
get to the airport you're bored so you
eat and then you know they serve you
meals on the plane so you eat and you're
not eating because it's good you know
meal
terrible that's that's a great like very
practical tip like a hack if you're G to
be taking a long trip uh and and it's
like the trip itself is an opportunity
to fast just don't eat the the crappy
stuff that that you might otherwise pick
up at the airport or that they might try
to serve you on the plane or that you
might you know somebody might pass you
like what that's a that's a great that's
really great and then when you get to
your destination you can kind of just
like uh step right back into the pattern
that yeah step right back into it
because obviously the the with the time
difference and the flight which was like
you know 12 13 hours it's everything's
all sort of jumbled up and you know but
if you if you if you then simply just
fall right into the pattern of at your
destination it makes the jet kind of
coming back out of the jet lag a little
bit easier so that's that's that's
helpful for some and I suppose if you're
jet lagged you don't have to go for
force yourself to go eat another meal no
matter what time it is yeah go to bed go
to sleep I mean or stay up until it's
time to go to sleep and then just fall
fall asleep but you don't actually have
to force yourself uh to eat another meal
yeah yeah so you you sort of time that
you know your meals with your eating so
that you sort of just leave everything
until you get to your destination and I
love it we you know like this so cool
Jason like I'm grateful for you as you
just did like my personal travel
consultant for uh healthy timing of
eating and and we were just in the same
place so we know exactly what the travel
time is and all that kind of the whole
pattern uh thing so look um uh where can
people learn more about you uh you can
go to my um my website that's um Dr
Jason fun or you can go to my YouTube
channel which is under Jason fun and uh
yeah you can follow me on Twitter um so
yeah you can find me there I I you know
on YouTube I'm putting out videos sort
of every week or every other week or so
so covering a lot of topics so that's
that's a good place to what's what's
your what's your most recent book you
want people to know about the the one I
did the most recent one was cancer code
which is sort of an exploration of not
so much nutrition but more about how
cancer develops because I think it's
actually a really really interesting
story of uh what this disease actually
is um so it's more of a scientific EXP
exploration rather than a howto sort of
thing it's it's it's about the science
yeah I mean and that's part of that's
part of how you and I got into the work
we're doing now is really just curiosity
and then poking into it and then we're
now now we're drawn deeply into it and
then you kind of like put on your
Explorer's hat in your backpack and
you're like waiting to the Jungle to try
of figure it all out right so yeah
that's right so so I I encourage
everybody to read uh the cancer code but
you also wrote the Obesity code which
really gets into how do you actually
lose body weight and you know my next
book is really about metabolism so um
you know it's a it's fantastic that um
uh you know the science is continuously
changing and it's really really
interesting so for everybody watching
check out Dr Jason fun Fu his YouTube
channel is super popular uh and his
website and get his book and with that I
mean uh by the way if you want to learn
more about um food is medicine you know
which we started talking about there's
so much more please sign up for my
newsletter come to my website Dr William
Le Dr William lei.com and you can find
me on social I'm on Tik Tok I'm on
Instagram Facebook Twitter um my handle
is Dr William Lee I wrote e Tob disease
there's a lot of stuff on there and now
that we've revealed that we both um had
a great time uh in Greece eating Greek
food I encourage people to look up uh
musak recipes with eggplant and if you
dare and if you eat seafood check out
how you would actually make with seafood
you've inspired me Jason to actually
check it out fact I'm gonna do it right
after we get done with this
video so cool thanks so much William all
right thanks very much cool hi there if
you enjoyed watching this video I know
you'll love the next one stay here and
check it out and I'll see you there