The End of Overeating

It all started with Oprah. An overweight woman named Sarah choked back tears as she described her complete lack of control around eating, even when she wasn’t hungry. David Kessler watched, engrossed. The Harvard-trained doctor, lawyer, medical school dean and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration recognized his own private struggle with his weight. And he wondered why people who successfully steered many aspects of their lives would lose all willpower around a box of Entemann’s glazed doughnuts.

Dr. Kessler began to look beyond how our bodies process food, and instead looked to the brain. His theory is that salty, fatty foods trigger chemicals in our brain that make us crave more, and he says that major food companies know exactly what motivates Americans to keep on eating. He details his theory in a new book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, and joins us with more.

(Photo by Maurice Svay via Flickr/Creative Commons)