Interview with Dr. Fatoki; the diet industry, holistic medicine and obesity.

Dr Adeyemi Fatoki is an author and MD who is certified in Family, Bariatric and Substance Addiction medicine. He's an author of The Fatoki Protocol, a book that helps you ''live healthy, lose weight and keep it off for life''. Amazon and Barnes & Nobles are some of the places where the book is available for purchase.

I was given the wonderful opportunity to interview Dr Fatoki on his own weight loss experiences, the diet industry, holistic medicine and obesity.


What motivated you to practice medicine?

I have always had an interest in illnesses especially infections a desire to help people as far back as I can remember.  I was the one usually called to help squeeze skin abscesses as a child.  In grade school, I joined the Red Cross instead of the Boy scouts like most of my friends.  In fact, I believe I may have been the only boy.  My interest may in medicine may have been from spending my early years being cared for by my grandmother who served as an unofficial midwife and healthcare worker in her community. 

   What about your own weight loss experiences compelled you to practice bariatric medicine?

I was very frustrated with my weight loss experience.  I gained about 50 lb during my residency training and spent more than 15 lb trying to lose it.  My medical education did not include much on nutrition or obesity treatment, therefore, most of what I learned was from the mass media just like everyone else.  After trying most of the different diets and some diet pills, I began to believe that there may be something wrong with the information that was available to physicians and the general public alike.  I was unable to find a program that incorporated some of the African foods I enjoyed in my diet plan which made me realize that I would be unable to stay with such diet for long..    I joined the American Society of Bariatric Physicians to learn more about obesity and became convinced that proper nutrition would solve a lot of medical illnesses. 

Do you believe that mainstream diets do little to address the psychology behind eating?

Yes.  I do.  Many of the mainstream diets assume that calories are equal and are the problem.  They fail to address why we tend to eat certain foods and are unable to stop.  Why do people crave chocolate and sweets but not meats, vegetables or water?  Once I began to obtain a detailed food history and listen to my patients, I realized that people crave certain foods depending on their moods or menstrual cycle.

  Why do you think the diet industry isn’t promoting a much simpler, effective and healthier approach to losing weight?

Money from product sales. The diet industry makes huge profits by packaging foods and meal replacement. The savvy marketing convinces people that these packaged products are healthier alternatives to real food.  Unfortunately, it takes more time effort to convince people to modify their lifestyle than it is to sell them packaged foods.

Do you believe that people succeed in losing weight and maintaining that weight when viewing weight-loss as a lifestyle change rather than a diet?

Yes. One of my favourite quotes is that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”.  It just won’t happen.  Based on my personal experience and observations in clinical practice, weight loss and maintenance requires a lifestyle change.  Any diet or fad will work for a short period of time but the weight is regained as soon as people accomplish their goals and revert back to their old habits.

Your weight-loss treatment plan is based on holistic medicine. What makes your treatment plan better than dieting?

I have realized that there is no quick fix or guarantees when it comes to medicine.  Human beings do not come with a manual that is specific to an individual.  Therefore, I believe we are all guessing and none of us can call ourselves experts since we did not create the body.  Most patients provide the information that a physician needs to adequately treat them.  The problem is that a lot of physicians do not bother to listen to what the patient is saying.  I have seen situations where routine things go wrong and in others where very ill patients who are not expected to survive make full recoveries.  My program is better than dieting because it takes everything that is going on with the patient into account using the “biopsychosocial” model that was stressed often during my Family Medicine training.

There are many medical professionals that disregard holistic medicine because there is insufficient scientific evidence to suggest that it works. What is your opinion on this?

My experience suggests otherwise.  I believe that accepting holistic medicine comes with experience.  Most clinicians do not have time to write scholarly articles or conduct/publish research findings.  There is a wealth of information in clinical and now, there are more of us willing to discuss our findings and experience rather than just leave it to the researchers.

What do you think could be done to change the medical professionals’ attitude towards holistic medicine?

We need more clinicians to speak up about their findings.  It would be nice if medicine would take the approach of the airline industry.  The airline industry takes the time to investigate and change processes rather than assign blame or label people as is common in the medical profession.

Gastric bypass is often used in obese patients as a weight-loss solution. What is your view on this? Do you believe it should be used as last resort or not at all?

I believe gastric bypass should be used only as a last resort.  The patients need to learn how to eat first otherwise they end up gaining the weight back.  Every surgical procedure has a risk of complications.  No matter how small the risk is, if you are the one person who has that rare complication, the impact can be devastating.  It is always best to minimize risks, even that of medication.

Who do you think should be held accountable for the prevalence of obesity in Western society?

The food industry.  They have blamed it on dietary fat (which is not palatable) and created all these new and unnatural processed foods.  These foods are marketed as “healthy” based on limited trial to get them to the market and expose consumers to them.  Many of the effects of these foods may not be manifested for many years.  I believe this is the reason for the prevalence of illnesses, like obesity, diabetes, heart disease etc today.  The food industry has created many new foods while the human body remains unchanged.  As far as I see it, you can put a new type of fuel in an unmodified engine and not expect any damage.  It is like putting diesel in a gasoline engine everyday.

What can governments, businesses, schools and physicians do to curb the rising obesity rates in the Western world?

We should look at the impact of processed foods and go back to the basics.  The food industry needs to be better regulated and monitored.  Consumers should have more input about what they choose to consume.  Genetically Modified Foods should be labelled as such so that each person may decide if that is what he or she chooses to eat.   The message needs to get out that quick microwaveable and processed foods do more harm than good on the long run.

Where do you hope to see society’s attitude in regards to food in about 10 years from now?

I am hoping that consumers will be better informed and food manufacturers will be more responsible.  The profit driven food and diet business is one of the major reasons for increased healthcare cost.

Would you ever establish a practice similar to Great Heights outside of North America?

I would love to.  I believe the more people we can reach the better things will be for humanity.  Third world countries are being convinced to abandon their traditional way of eating and diets for that of the western world.  The reverse should be the case.  Illnesses that are prevalent in the Western world are becoming more prevalent in third world countries as they adopt a western lifestyle.

What books and websites would you recommend for people interested in weight-loss?

I recommend any books or articles by Dr John Yudkin.  Also recommend “Good calories, Bad calories” by Gary Taubes.

Off course, I recommend my blog, nofatmd.com and my book, “The Fatoki Protocol: It’s all about the 1/3”.  The US government websites like NIH Heart, Lung and Blood institute website and the Obesity society website are helpful.