David Kessler has a bunch of degrees and assorted other Important Person Credentials, including a stint as FDA commissioner (1990-1997). He's been on a book tour for his latest, "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite." Library Journal calls it "A cogent analysis of the American obsession with food and Americans’ propensity to overeat", and Publisher's Weekly (at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble) says:
"Conditioned hypereating is a biological challenge, not a character flaw," says Kessler, former FDA commissioner under presidents Bush and Clinton). Here Kessler... 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.
I found a few articles and several interviews, including a mention in Oprah magazine. The Washington Post went with "Crave Man" as a title, but it's worth reading:
...Kessler was on a mission to understand a problem that has vexed him since childhood: why he can't resist certain foods.
His resulting theory, described in his new book, "The End of Overeating," is startling. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain's chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat. "Much of the scientific research around overeating has been physiology -- what's going on in our body," he said. "The real question is what's going on in our brain." ...
...The {nation's second-largest restaurant chain Chili's ingredient} labels showed the foods were bathed in salt, fat and sugars, beyond what a diner might expect by reading the menu, Kessler said. The ingredient list for Southwestern Eggrolls mentioned salt eight different times; sugars showed up five times. The "egg rolls," which are deep-fried in fat, contain chicken that has been chopped up like meatloaf to give it a "melt in the mouth" quality that also makes it faster to eat. By the time a diner has finished this appetizer, she has consumed 910 calories, 57 grams of fat and 1,960 milligrams of sodium.
Instead of satisfying hunger, the salt-fat-sugar combination will stimulate that diner's brain to crave more, Kessler said. For many, the come-on offered by Lay's Potato Chips -- "Betcha can't eat just one" -- is scientifically accurate. And the food industry manipulates this neurological response, designing foods to induce people to eat more than they should or even want, Kessler found. ...
And McClatchy has a three-book review, "Three diet books travel different paths to same conclusion":
...So this trio of books by scientists is refreshing because they delve more into the psychology and physiology of eating....
... {Kessler} interviews food designers and manufacturers, several of whom declined to be identified, on how they intentionally use the unholy trinity of fat, sugar and salt to get you hooked.
Chemically, food cues cause the brain to release dopamine, which drives us to seek out food we crave. Eating that food releases stress-easing opioids that provide temporary emotional relief. Those two chemicals conspire to create a cycle that is repeated immediately or soon thereafter.
Looks like a worthwhile (and interesting) book, and if the interviews I read are any indication, this could be an informative chat.
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