Welcome to the continuing diary series "Let's Read a WHEE Book Together!" This week, we're continuing with David Kessler's The End of Overeating, Chapter 27. If you're just discovering this diary series, you will find links to the previous installments at the bottom of this diary.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
The End of Overeating, by David Kessler, M.D.
Chapter 27: Overeating Becomes More Dangerous
In Chapter 27, Kessler turns his attention away from the food industry (the subject of Part 2 / Chapters 14-26) and back to the brain's response to rewards. Part 3 of the book is titled "Conditioned Hypereating Emerges."
Kessler begins by asserting that the products of the food industry are not only "irresistible" and "craveable," but actually have the power "...to rewire our brains" and "...command our attention." He introduces us to the head of a nonprofit agency in the substance abuse field, and asks her,
"What is it about an inanimate object on the plate that plays such a large role in our minds?" I asked. "Why are some of us always thinking about it? What is it about this stimulus?"
"It's a dragon, David," she said. "And the dragon is bigger than you."
An undesired yet salient stimulus (that is, one which stands out from the surroundings) "...can provoke impulsive behavior." According to Kessler,
...almost everyone has some vulnerability to the conflicts and unwanted thoughts such a cue engenders.
[emphasis mine - Ed]
Kessler then describes how rewards (such as highly palatable food) drive a reinforcing cycle of action and response, until a "habit of pursuit" of pleasure is established. He notes that this habit-creating feedback loop is an evolutionary pro-survival strategy - an automatic habit is more efficient than working something out from scratch every time. However, once an automatic response is established, the emotional reward is no longer required - the habit takes over, even after the pleasure is gone.
At that point, we are almost literally thoughtless. Wiring embedded deep within the brain's reward circuitry becomes our guide; we heed its response not only to salient food, but also to other rewards, such as sexual opportunity and psychoactive drugs.
[I presume that Kessler means that the same mechanism that creates undesirable eating habits can also create undesirable sex or drug habits, not that Hardee's Monster Thickburger is some sort of "gateway drug" in itself - Ed]
After reading how self-reinforcing response patterns are created, one might wonder how these patterns are limited. Once started on a cycle of action and response, what keeps us ("almost everyone," as noted above) from driving forward on an ever-increasing cycle of pleasure-seeking behavior? Kessler does not say - at least not in Chapter 27. Rather, he notes:
In order to revive our prior level of satisfaction, we may feel driven to seek out something more--more novelty, more stimulation, more calories. Two pieces of cake instead of one. Chocolate peanut-butter pie to follow buffalo wings. Foods higher in sugar or fat. More variety. The ephemeral nature of the sought-after reward may drive pursuit in an increasingly feverish upward spiral.
...many people can't stop after a few bites of hyperpalatable food. We have become conditioned to seek more reward. The barricades to repetitive behavior have been toppled. We keep looking for the next big wow.
[emphasis mine - Ed]
Previous chapters from The End of Overeating:
Part 2: The Food Industry
Chapter 26: Purple Cows (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 25: The Science of Selling (reviewed by me)
(there are links to Chapters 14 through 24 in my Chapter 25 review)
Part 1: Sugar, Fat, and Salt
Chapter 13: Eating Behavior Becomes a Habit (reviewed by me)
(there are links to Chapters 1 through 12 in my Chapter 13 review)
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
November 29
Sun AM - ???
Sun PM - Holiday Fit Club - kismet
November 30
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - ???
December 1
Tues AM - ???
Tues PM -- Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 28)
December 2
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
December 3
Thurs AM - ???
Thurs PM - ???
December 4
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - ???
December 5
Sat AM - ???
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 29)