Sound Off!

The End of Overeating

I'm always curious when the latest diet book hits the shelves, though the latest foodie book is not so much about dieting as it is about the American food industry and what it's been doing to our waistlines for the last 100 years. David Kessler, an MD and former US FDA commissioner is the author of The End of Overeating. Dr. Kessler is better known for his battle with the tobacco industry and their spell over smokers to keep them hooked. He now is tackling the food industry to explain how we can all stop eating ourselves to death.

Dr. Kessler provides a great overview of how certain foods (all the highly processed sugar and fat-laden ones) stimulate our brain's reward pathways, which condition us to seek out more and more food. Similar to Pavlov's dog, we become conditioned to succumb to the siren call of ice cream or French fries when the right cues are available. He explains that modern foods have become "too palatable" and that "American industrial food is made to stimulate", rather than satisfy hunger. I find this neurobiology business fascinating!

If you've become one of the many Americans hooked on processed food, or if you're just interested in learning about why you crave chocolate chip cookies when you're sad, this is a great read for you. Dr. Kessler provides practical guidelines to get out of the "see it' want it' eat it" mode. Think of what we'd all look like if we all ate due to hunger and not habit. Isn't it time we all became more mindful and less rote about what we put in our mouths every day?

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