Dr. Jason Fung Recap: His Take on Perimenopause Weight Gain, Hormones and a Low-Insulin Diet

The newest full video on Dr. Jason Fung's official YouTube channel, "Weight Loss for Women - best diet for perimenopause," was published on October 28, 2026 and runs about 14 minutes. Dr. Fung, a kidney specialist (nephrologist) and author known for his writing on fasting and obesity, speaks to the camera alone. His main argument is that weight gain around perimenopause, the years leading up to menopause, is driven mostly by hormones rather than a lack of willpower. He walks through how sex hormones affect where the body stores fat, describes a large study that compared eating patterns in women around menopause, and explains why he thinks a "low-insulin" way of eating stands out, while also raising a worry about getting too little protein. This is one doctor's opinion, and other experts see parts of it differently, so treat it as a viewpoint to think about, not as a rule to follow.

This is an independent summary written by GNOUP. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Dr. Fung, his channel, The Fasting Method or any of his programs. The views and claims described below belong to the speaker, not to GNOUP. This is general information only and is not medical advice. Please talk with a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional before changing your diet, starting or stopping any fasting routine, or making decisions about hormone therapy. This matters especially if you have diabetes, take any medication (including blood sugar, blood pressure or weight-loss medicines), are pregnant or breastfeeding, are under 18, or have a history of an eating disorder. GNOUP has no connection to the books, coaching programs, memberships or other paid offers mentioned in or around the video and does not promote them.

Key health tips and takeaways

These are Dr. Fung's own ideas and explanations from the video, not instructions. GNOUP has not checked the studies or numbers he mentions.

• Food carries "information," not just calories. Dr. Fung says every food brings energy and also a hormonal signal that tells the body whether to store that energy as fat or burn it. In his view, that signal matters more than the calorie count alone.
• Sex hormones shape where fat goes. He points to puberty as an example: before puberty, boys and girls carry similar amounts of body fat, but afterward, he says, testosterone tends to push boys toward muscle while estrogen and progesterone lead girls to store more fat in the hips and breasts. He stresses that this is about hormones, not discipline.
• Appetite can shift across the menstrual cycle. He describes estrogen as an appetite suppressant and progesterone as an appetite stimulant, and says women may eat noticeably more in the second half of the cycle. The video's description puts the swing at up to about 500 calories a day; the automatic transcript garbles the exact figures, so treat the number as approximate.
• Perimenopause is a high-risk time for weight gain, he says. In his explanation, falling estrogen removes some of its appetite-suppressing effect and moves fat from under the skin (subcutaneous fat) toward the belly (visceral fat), which he links to higher heart disease risk. He says this is why many women notice more belly fat around menopause.
• Do not overlook protein. Even though high-protein foods were linked with weight gain in the study he discusses, he warns that eating too little protein can raise the risk of losing muscle with age (sarcopenia), which he says can also affect strength and bones. He argues that animal proteins are easier for the body to digest and use than many plant proteins. This is his view; nutrition experts weigh protein sources in different ways, and how much protein is right for you is a question for a doctor or registered dietitian.
• Hormone replacement therapy is outside the video's scope. He says whether to take hormone therapy is controversial and does not discuss it, so the video is not a guide to that decision.

Newsworthy insights

These are claims and opinions from the video. Some experts dispute them, GNOUP has not verified them, and the transcript does not include full references.

• A large study on diets around menopause. Dr. Fung discusses what he describes as a recent study in JAMA (a journal of the American Medical Association) that followed about 38,000 women over a 12-year period around menopause, using food surveys every four years. He notes that it is an observational (prospective cohort) study, not a randomized controlled trial, so it shows links rather than proof of cause.
• The "low-insulin" pattern came out on top for weight, in his reading. He says the study compared patterns such as healthy and unhealthy plant-based diets, the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, a low-carb diet, the Planetary Health Diet and a score called the Empirical Dietary Index for Hyperinsulinemia (EDIH), which estimates how much a way of eating tends to raise insulin. According to him, women with the lowest insulin scores did best on weight, while the Planetary Health Diet, which he describes as mostly vegetables and fish, was linked with the least obesity. He adds that a low-insulin diet is not the same thing as a low-carb diet, because processing also matters.
• Starches and animal proteins were both linked with obesity, he says. He reports that starchy vegetables, refined grains and potatoes were associated with obesity in the study, and so were red and processed meats, chicken and other animal proteins. He points out that the study used body mass index (BMI), which cannot tell fat gain apart from muscle gain, and that is part of why he questions reading the protein result as simply "bad."
• Claims from one clinic's program. He describes a clinic program run by another physician that followed 90 people on a very low-carb (ketogenic) eating plan with medical support. He says 13 of the 23 people with diabetes reached what he calls remission, and that their estimated 10-year heart disease risk fell 28% and 30-year risk fell 24% using an American Heart Association risk calculator. These are his reported figures from a small, supervised program, not proof that the approach works for everyone, and GNOUP has not checked them. Diabetes changes like these should only happen under a doctor's care.
• His closing suggestion. He ends by suggesting that women in perimenopause consider cutting back on carbohydrates, look at intermittent fasting and work on lowering insulin. That is his opinion, not a plan from GNOUP; fasting and big diet changes are not safe for everyone, so please talk to a doctor first.

Watch the video

Weight Loss for Women - best diet for perimenopause on YouTube (official channel "Jason Fung," @DrJasonFung, published October 28, 2026)

Episode guide

Chapter times come from the chapter list in the video's YouTube description. Select a time to jump to that point on YouTube.

• 0:00: Introduction: diet and perimenopausal weight gain
• 0:22: Calories versus hormones: food as information
• 1:52: How estrogen and testosterone influence body fat
• 3:30: The menstrual cycle and appetite
• 4:45: Perimenopause weight gain and visceral belly fat
• 6:00: The JAMA study of about 38,000 women
• 7:22: Why he says the low-insulin (EDIH) pattern stood out
• 8:09: Foods linked with obesity and the protein question
• 9:30: Protein and muscle loss with age (sarcopenia)
• 10:31: Animal versus plant protein
• 12:08: Heart disease risk and diabetes claims from a clinic program
• 14:04: Final takeaways

About this summary

This recap was prepared from the automatically generated YouTube transcript and the description and chapter list published with the video. Transcripts can contain errors, so names and numbers may differ from the audio. For the exact words and context, watch the video. This article is general information, not medical advice, and is not a substitute for guidance from a qualified healthcare professional.