About this title: 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 ...
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Rodale Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781605297859ISBN:1605297852
Description: New. Items ship once payments have cleared. Media mail 5-8 days Priority 2-3 days and international orders may be subject to customs clearance procedures which can cause delays. Seasonal delays can occur in postal system. All items ship within 24 hours of receiving payment. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780743596794ISBN:074359679X
Description: New. Items ship once payments have cleared. Media mail 5-8 days Priority 2-3 days and international orders may be subject to customs clearance procedures which can cause delays. Seasonal delays can occur in postal system. All items ship within 24 hours of receiving payment. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Rodale Pr
Date Published: 2009-04-27
ISBN-13:9781605297859ISBN:1605297852
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781605297859. read more
Binding: Spoken Word Compact Disc
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2009-04-28
ISBN-13:9780743596794ISBN:074359679X
Description: NEW. Spoken Word Compact Disc. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780743596794. read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Rodale Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780743596794ISBN:074359679X
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Edition: Unabridged
Binding: Audiobook CD
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780743596794ISBN:074359679X
Description: New. In this groundbreaking expos into the roots of American obesity, Dr. Kessler explains why and how people are unknowingly addicted to a vicious cycle of overeating, and what can be done to stop it. read more
"After reading this book, I'm not sure I'll ever want another French fry again. Well, maybe I'll still WANT one, but I'll probably think twice about eating it--and a lot of other things. Had heard David Kessler, a former U.S. Surgeon General, interviewed about this book on MPR one day and added this book to my list. Kessler breaks down the food industry's efforts to attract consumers with "hyperpalatable" foods that encourage "hypereating," so apparently some of this overeating is not really our faults--the food was engineered to MAKE us overeat. Also covered are the highly processed, highly chemical-containing foods so many Americans these days take for granted--some of which people actually assume are good for them (or at least not so bad). Kessler leaves the reader with some strategies for coping with overeating, and for identifying foods that make us want to overeat. One of his primary points is awareness, and one cannot claim to be unaware of the nutritional/dietary pitfalls all around us after reading this book. A good strategy would be to do one's best to avoid too many processed foods, and to not eat out (ANYWHERE) very often!!! After putting down this book, about the only thing that sounded palatable to me was a homecooked veggie stir fry served atop whole grain brown rice. That might be "what's for dinner" at the Moore house this very night!"
"Kessler gives a disturbing look at the present social norms surrounding eating and how society has been conditioned to overeat. Influenced by the food industry's highly palatable products and aggressive marketing campaigns, we are programmed to eat the wrong foods for the wrong reasons, and in unreasonably large quantities. In addition, it has become culturally acceptable to deal with emotions by eating or to eat for a reward. Over the years, the concept of food is more convoluted than serving as simple fuel or nourishment to the body.
I am disgusted with the food industry after reading what several top executives in the food industry admit to in regards to designing highly palatable food that will addict the consumer. When Kessler states, "In the future, new social norms and values will emerge, and food choices, offered in smaller portion sizes, will seem 'right' to us. That will be what we come to expect, and that will be what we want (249)" it is apparent how badly the average American needs to take control of their diet, fighting the obesity epidemic one meal at a time."
"If you struggle with overeating, you must keep one thing in mind when deciding to read this book: you MUST finish it! Otherwise don't start it!
For the first half of the book is pretty much filled with reasons why American people trying to gain control of their appetite routinely fail over and over, again and again, against a seemingly unconquerable enemy.
Backed with all kinds of research studies on what goes on in our brains when presented with foods we love (usually foods loaded with sugar, fat, and salt ad infinitum) Kessler is like a clanging symbol of behaviorist hopelessness. It's REALLY hard to resist these foods! And the fast food and chain restaurant industry has a vested interest in people failing. I found it to be scary the amount of chemistry that ggoes into concocting these hyperpalatable foods.
The second half of the book presents a little more hope in outlining some mental tricks in REPLACING the habituated behaviors of overeating terrible foods with other, (sometimes non-food-related), healthier behaviors.
So, in this book you get both the negative and positive aspects to viewing the human body and brain as a machine... It can learn procedures by which it can destroy itself or keep itself running at optimum efficiency and health.
As a former hopeless, unhealthy overeater I thoroughly enjoyed this book! (Even if the science got a little overwhelming.)"
"i don't think this book is very well written, but it is important. Kessler outlines something that I have been saying to patients for years, namely that if a company is selling anything, it makes more money by getting you to buy more of its product. If the product is shoes or books, the result for the consumer is more books on the shelf, or more shoes in the closet. But if a company is selling processed food, it cannot increase its profits without inducing its customers to overeat. Kessler describes the engineering of processed food to appeal to primitive instincts that served humans well when food was scarce, namely the desire for salt, sugar and fat. When a hunter-gatherer had a successful hunt, or stumbled across a beehive, it was a good idea to chow down, because who knew how long it would be until the next success. The same drives don't work to the advantage of modern humans with constant access to foods high in sugar, fat, and salt.
The book does make it very clear that avoidance of processed food is a key element in gaining control over obesity. Avoiding processed foods does mean more work for the cook---buying good ingredients, using a healthy recipe and putting them together yourself. Here's to the slow food movement! (Toward that end, the recipes in the two Flat Belly books are great examples of well prepared food from healthy ingredients and very very tasty.)"
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