The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetiite (Thorndike Health, Home & Learning)

Most of us know what it feels like to fall under the spell of food--when a handful of chips leads to an empty bag. But it's harder to understand why we can't seem to stop eating, even when we know better. Dr. David Kessler, the dynamic former FDA commissioner who reinvented the food label and tackled the tobacco industry, now cracks the code of overeating by explaining how our bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat, and salt. Food manufacturers create products by manipulating these ingredients to stimulate our appetites, setting in motion a cycle of desire and consumption that ends with a nation of overeaters. This book explains for the first time why it is exceptionally difficult to resist certain foods and why it's so easy to overindulge. Dr. Kessler's cutting-edge investigation offers new insights and helpful tools to help us find a solution.--From publisher description.;Part I. Sugar, fat, salt : Something changed, America gained weight -- Overriding the wisdom of the body ; Sugar, fat, and salt make us eat more sugar, fat, and salt -- The business of food: creating highly rewarding stimuli -- Pushing up our settling points -- Sugar, fat, and salt are reinforcing -- Amping up the neurons -- We are wired to focus attention on the most salient stimuli -- Rewarding foods become hot stimuli -- Cues activate brain circuits that guide behavior -- Emotions make food memorable -- Rewarding foods rewire the brain -- Eating behavior becomes a habit -- Part II. The food industry : A visit to Chili's -- Cinnabon: a lesson in irresistibility -- That's entertainment -- The era of the monster thickburger -- No satisfaction -- Giving them what they like -- What consumers don't know -- The ladder of irresistibility -- The world's cuisine becomes Americanized -- Nothing is real -- Optimize it! -- The science of selling -- Purple cows -- Part III. Conditioned hypereating emerges : Overeating becomes more dangerous -- What weight-loss drugs can teach us -- Why we don't just say no -- How we become trapped -- Conditioned hypereating emerges -- Tracing the roots of conditioned hypereating -- Nature or nurture? -- Warning signs in children -- The culture of overeating -- Part IV. The theory of treatment : Invitations to the brain -- Reversing the habit -- Rules of disengagement -- Emotional learning -- Part V. Food rehab : The treatment framework -- Planned eating -- Letting go of the past -- Eating is personal -- Avoiding traps: on obsession and relapse -- Making the critical perceptual shift -- Part VI. The end of overeating : "Our success is the problem" -- Industry cracks the code -- Fighting back -- A final note.

Drawn from the latest brain science as well as interviews with top physicians and food industry insiders, The End of Overeating uncovers the food industry's aggressive marketing tactics and reveals shocking facts about how we lost control over food-and what we can do to get it back. For the millions of people struggling to lose weight as well as those of us who simply can't seem to eat our favorite foods in moderation, Dr. Kessler's cutting-edge investigation offers valuable insights and practical answers for America's largest-ever public health crisis. There has never been a more thorough, compelling, or in-depth analysis of why we eat the way we do.

Publishers Weekly

"Conditioned hypereating is a biological challenge, not a character flaw," says Kessler, former FDA commissioner under presidents Bush and Clinton). Here Kessler (A Question of Intent) describes how, since the 1980s, the food industry, in collusion with the advertising industry, and lifestyle changes have short-circuited the body's self-regulating mechanisms, leaving many at the mercy of reward-driven eating. Through the evidence of research, personal stories (including candid accounts of his own struggles) and examinations of specific foods produced by giant food corporations and restaurant chains, Kessler explains how the desire to eat-as distinct from eating itself-is stimulated in the brain by an almost infinite variety of diabolical combinations of salt, fat and sugar. Although not everyone succumbs, more people of all ages are being set up for a lifetime of food obsession due to the ever-present availability of foods laden with salt, fat and sugar. A gentle though urgent plea for reform, Kessler's book provides a simple "food rehab" program to fight back against the industry's relentless quest for profits while an entire country of people gain weight and get sick. According to Kessler, persistence is all that is needed to make the perceptual shifts and find new sources of rewards to regain control. (May)

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Most of us know what it feels like to fall under the spell of food—when one slice of pizza turns into half a pie, or a handful of chips leads to an empty bag. But it’s harder to understand why we can't seem to stop eating—even when we know better. When we want so badly to say "no," why do we continue to reach for food? Dr. David Kessler, the dynamic former FDA commissioner who reinvented the food label and tackled the tobacco industry, now reveals how the food industry has hijacked the brains of millions of Americans. The result? America’s number-one public health issue. Dr. Kessler cracks the code of overeating by explaining how our bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat, and salt. Food manufacturers create products by manipulating these ingredients to stimulate our appetites, setting in motion a cycle of desire and consumption that ends with a nation of overeaters. The End of Overeating explains for the first time why it is exceptionally difficult to resist certain foods and why it’s so easy to overindulge. Dr. Kessler met with top scientists, physicians, and food industry insiders. The End of Overeating uncovers the shocking facts about how we lost control over our eating habits—and how we can get it back. Dr. Kessler presents groundbreaking research, along with what is sure to be a controversial view inside the industry that continues to feed a nation of overeaters—from popular brand manufacturers to advertisers, chain restaurants, and fast food franchises. For the millions of people struggling with weight as well as for those of us who simply don't understand why we can't seem to stop eating our favorite foods, Dr. Kessler’s cutting-edge investigation offers new insights and helpful tools to help us find a solution. There has never been a more thorough, compelling, or in-depth analysis of why we eat the way we do. Dr. David A. Kessler, the dynamic and controversial former FDA commissioner known for his crusade against the tobacco industry, is taking on another business that's making Americans sick: the food industry. In The End of Overeating, Dr. Kessler shows us how our brain chemistry has been hijacked by the foods we most love to eat: those that contain stimulating combinations of fat, sugar, and salt.Drawn from the latest brain science as well as interviews with top physicians and food industry insiders, The End of Overeating exposes the food industry's aggressive marketing tactics and reveals shocking facts about how we lost control over food—and what we can do to get it back. For the millions of people struggling with their weight as well as those of us who simply can't seem to eat our favorite foods in moderation, Dr. Kessler's cutting-edge investigation offers valuable insights and practical answers for America's largest-ever public health crisis. There has never been a more thorough, compelling, or in-depth analysis of why we eat the way we do. Crack the code to overeating. Find out the reason why we 've suddenly lost control over our own eating habits and how the food industry benefits from it. For millions of people struggling with weight, as well as those of us who simply don't understand why we can't seem to stop eating our favorite foods, Dr. Kessler's cutting-edge investigation offers new insights and useful tools to help us break our unhealthy eating habits. In The End of Overeating, Dr. Kessler cracks the code of overeating by explaining how our bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat and salt. Food manufacturers create products by manipulating these ingredients to stimulate our appetites, setting in motion a cycle of desire and consumption that ends with a nation of overeaters. The End of Overeating explains for the first time why it is exceptionally difficult to resist certain foods and why it's so easy to overindulge Most of us know what it feels like to fall under the spell of food - when one slice of pizza turns into half a pie, or a handful of chips leads to an empty bag. But it's harder to understand why we can't seem to stop eating, even when we know better. Former FDA commissioner Dr. David Kessler met with top scientists, physicians, and food industry insiders to uncover the shocking facts about how we lost control of our eating habits - and how we can get it back. (Bestseller)