Good Reads: The End of Overeating

Dr. David Kessler, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration who is well known for his attack on Big tobacco, writes a fascinating book about American society’s struggle to say no to food. The book examines how the combination of fat, sugar and salt have taken hold of us, and with the help of the food industry’s constant research to ensure we maintain the right balance of those ingredients on our plates, we keep expanding our waistlines.

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite is well written, extensively researched and easy to understand. It isn’t dense or technical, which I feared when first picking it up, and will inform even those amongst us who frequently read about food and food policy. The first part of the book outlines how our brains are biologically wired to want fat, sugar and salt and explains how the more of it we eat the more our brains are trained to want those foods in bigger quantities and more often in order to be satisfied. Kessler reveals how restaurants, such as Chili’s and TGI Fridays, do substantial research to perfect the combination of fat, sugar and salt in their dishes, served at its “bliss point”, which ensures that customers chew less, eat more, and get the most pleasure out of what he calls “hyper palatable foods”.

The final sections of the book contain a “Food Rehab” program aimed at listing specific steps to take in order to break away from the cycle of overeating. While they may or may not apply personally, they were still worth the read as even the best eaters amongst us has a vice, mine being Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

My short overview can’t begin to do this book justice, and if you are interested to learn more I’d suggest checking out the New York Times’ synopsis and you can listen to Kessler on NPR’s Fresh Air as he explains his theory in further detail.

Whatever you do, put this book on your must read list!

Tagged as: book, David Kessler, food policy, What We're Reading