It’s an honor to post as part of the WHEE dialogue and help with the group read of The End of Overeating by David A. Kessler, M.D. This diary addresses Chapter 2. Hope I am doing this right.
This fascinating book came to my attention about 3 weeks back. It reorganized my thinking, just the way one key piece of a puzzle can suddenly reveal how a whole section has to go.
My weight has been up and down all my life. A few months ago, to my astonishment, my BMI started nudging the edge of obesity. I’m one of those who, as Kessler’s introduction described, often feel out-of-control and conflicted around food. We may eat things we don’t rationally want. We may keep eating when already full. We may obsess about certain edibles. We wonder why we feel and act this way. We hate it.
Welcome to "Let's Read a WHEE Book Together!" We're continuing with David Kessler's The End of Overeating. Here's the description on Google Books, which apparently had the first few chapters posted at one time but now states, "No Preview Available." If you can’t get your hands on a copy of the book right now, you might still find something worthwhile in this book discussion.
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.
Chapter 1 offered this key: "[E]ating certain foods only makes us want to eat more of them."
Chapter 2, "Overriding the Wisdom of the Body," takes the first step in an attempted biological explanation of how this can be possible.
Within the brain, Kessler suggests, ordinary hunger and out-of-control food-lust are two different things, originating in two separate, independent systems of motivation.
Plain old hunger comes from what Kessler calls "the homeostatic system," centered in the hypothalamus.
There's an excellent page about the hypothalamus on the site of Washington Univ. of St. Louis:
The main function of the hypothalamus is homeostasis, or maintaining the body's status quo. Factors such as blood pressure, body temperature, fluid and electrolyte balance, and body weight are held to a precise value called the set-point. Although this set-point can migrate over time, from day to day it is remarkably fixed.
To achieve this task, the hypothalamus must receive inputs about the state of the body, and must be able to initiate compensatory changes if anything drifts out of whack.
If the energy supply falls too low, the homeostatic system prompts us to go after food. When we have enough energy and nutrients, it prompts us to stop eating. If unperturbed, the homeostatic system will roughly balance caloric income and outgo, in the long term keeping the person at a healthy, fairly steady weight.
But when it comes to food, the homeostatic system is not the only motivator in our heads. In fact its voice can be quite muted.
That’s because there is also the "reward system." This is the source of what I’m personally terming food-lust.
The reward system "[encourages] us to seek out pleasurable things," Kessler posits.
The reward system lures us into engaging in sex (who would even try that weird stuff if it wasn’t fun?) It prompted our prehistoric ancestors to put in more effort for certain hard-to-get foods, including rare, precious energy-rich items like oily nuts, sweet fruits, bone marrow and honey. This extra motivation helped survival.
The satisfaction that the reward system offers is intense...but fleeting. So naturally, we want to do that thing again.
If the homeostatic system resembles a capable administrator, the reward system is like a compulsive, hard-sell sales associate. (My interpretation.)
If the homeostatic system is like a steam engine with an automatic governor, the reward system is like a car with a gas pedal but no brakes. (Me again.)
"Animals ate well beyond the point where they would otherwise have stopped" when scientists applied an electrical stimulus to a reward area in their brains, Kessler reports. Also, if the far lateral hypothalamus was stimulated, animals would cross an electrified floor to reach food, when hunger alone couldn’t drive them to it.
(About animal experiments...BTW, I hate them. But we can try to use the knowledge for good. Regretfully, I also eat some meat.)
Kessler’s view of these experiments is that stimulation of a reward center in these rats overrode normal restraints. On careful reading, I am not sure his examples clearly support his point about the division between the homeostatic motivation and reward motivation. Isn’t the "far lateral hypothalamus" part of the homeostasis-dedicated hypothalamus? Moreover, the studies cited are more than 50 years old. A cursory Google turned up other studies suggesting--to this nonspecialist--that things might be a bit more complicated.
Kessler's other example describes the difficulty Robert DeNiro had in losing the last 15 or 20 pounds out of a total of 60 he purposely gained for the film "Raging Bull" (released in 1980). DeNiro reported he had to exercise rigorous self-discipline at that point. This seems to relate more to the body's ability to change its apparent weight set-point in response to experience than it does to distinguishing pleasure-based from homeostatic eating.
BTW, since we are on DKos, according to Wikipedia,
On the December 8, 2006 episode of Hardball with Chris Matthews...De Niro was asked whom he would like to see as President of the United States. De Niro responded, "Well, I think of two people: Hillary Clinton and Obama." On February 4, 2008, De Niro supported Obama at a rally at the Izod Center in New Jersey....
That being the case, I'm pleased to report that 66-year-old DeNiro was still looking trim at the 2009 Tribeca film festival. (Sorry, but I have never learned how to embed photos, and anyway it's probably copyrighted.)
Yet, to return to the main point, even if Kessler's evidence is not fully on point, I am thoroughly convinced of the chapter's main thesis.
A personal application: When I rip open a bag of [**unprintable horrible junk**], in most cases I am really hungry (homeostatic system). I am also, at the same time, in food-lust (reward system). After less than half a bag, the homeostatic system flashes ENOUGH FOOD. But when it comes to this particular stimulus, the reward system doesn’t know or care anything about enough. It continues to flash even more brightly, MORE GOODIES. Guess which signal is stronger.
Next thing I know, the stuff is almost gone and the homeostatic system is flashing UGH, OH NO and FEEL SICK. At this point the rationalizing mind kicks in to support the reward system, with the thought, "It’s ridiculous to save the small amount that is left here, might as well finish it and get rid of the evidence." Next thing, the bag is empty, and I’m swearing that this is absolutely the last time I do such a dumb (and physically uncomfortable) thing.
Yet only certain foods and situations lead to this kind of behavior. If there is no bag of *** when I'm hungry, I'll eat, maybe, a bowl of oatmeal, enjoy it moderately well, and feel satisfied. There is no compulsion to gorge on that oatmeal.
In terms of this experience, a split between a homeostatic system and a reward system of motivation has explanatory power for me.
Finally, putting the first thing last, the opening of Chapter 2 posits that the vast majority of overweight people are overweight because they eat more. Kessler cites evidence of underreporting food consumption by overweight people in studies. Considerable eating apparently goes on "outside of consciousness." The statistics are not of great interest to me, but I'm grabbed by the concept of eating "outside of consciousness." That certainly happens at times, as when I take handful after handful of *** while engaged in party conversation.
Here’s what I decided from reading this chapter:
Certain food items, which have a specially powerful effect on my reward system, are risky to my comfort and health. What I want to do is focus on the kind of foods that taste moderately good when I'm hungry, satisfy my hunger and do not trigger eating jags.
BTW, since I read Kessler’s book, the scale says my weight has declined a few pounds--without even counting calories. I may only be experiencing the enthusiasm of the recent convert, of course. Will keep you posted.
Do please read down to the poll below!
Here's the current WHEE schedule (to the best of my knowledge and belief). I think you sign up by making a comment to the tip jar.
September 1
Tues PM - ???
September 2
Weds AM - Edward Spurlock
Weds PM - ???
September 3
Thur AM - Ed G
Thur PM - ???
September 4
Fri AM - smartcookienyc
Fri PM - ???
September 5
Sat AM - Edward Spurlock
Sat PM - ???
September 6
Sun AM - ???
Sun PM - ???
September 7
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - ???
September 8
Tues AM - Clio2
Tues PM - ????