The End of Overeating

I just finished a good book about food: The End of Overeating by David Kessler. I'd put it in a class of books with Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Here are some things I wrote in my review of the book on Goodreads:

Do you ever argue with yourself over whether you should have an unhealthy treat? Those cookies look good. They're bad for me; I don't need them. I want one. I shouldn't have any. Just one won't hurt... And then you decide you'll have one (or more), just to stop the internal argument.

Or do you find yourself unconsciously reaching for another tortilla chip, even though you're already full and still have an entrée on the way?

The End of Overeating gets at the heart of why these things happen. It explains the impact that foods loaded with fat, sugar, and salt have on the brain. It suggests that food can literally be addictive and talks about how to break the cycle.

Along the way, the book conveys a lot of interesting information, like how cereal manufacturers disguise how much sweetener they put in a cereal by using four or five different sweeteners so that no individual sweetener appears too high on the ingredients list. (I checked my box of Basic 4 to see for myself. Sure enough, it uses sugar, brown sugar, barley malt syrup, brown sugar syrup, and honey.)

An interview with the author on the Colbert Report sparked my interest. You can watch it here: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/226155/april-29-2009/david-kessler.

The book is a bit dry, but it's a quick read and it's worthwhile. It might change the way you think about food. I'm hoping it changes the way I do.