The End of Overeating

• Title: The End of Overeating
• Author: David A. Kessler, MD
• Price: $25.95
• Publisher: Rodale Books, 2009

David Kessler is a pediatrician, attorney, and former commissioner of the FDA; you wouldn’t think that his brain could be easily manipulated. Yet in The End of Overeating, the doctor shares his enduring struggle to deal with out of control eating and wrestle his appetite into submission. And he’s not alone in his fight. There are millions of others who struggle with overeating on a daily basis and this fascinating book offers insight into why we eat the way we do and what we can do about it.

While Kessler spends the first section discussing what influences our eating habits, including how the food industry uses our own biological impulses to make food we like, whether it's good for us or not, what's fascinating is his focus on how the brain works. He compares it to a hostage situation, requiring strong negotiating techniques to steer us past temptations facing us at every turn. The problem is, we either don't have those skills or don't know how to use them effectively.

Shoring up this point are fascinating stories from other people and their struggles with food. One journalist says he didn't flinch in the presence of jihadists, suicide bombers, and war-hardened soldiers. Yet face-to-face with M & M’s, he’s barely able to cope. "I can comprehend suicide terrorism more easily than I can comprehend somebody who just doesn’t think about food," he says, something many readers can relate to.

Kessler describes the mechanisms behind these behaviors by weaving the concept of "eating promotes more eating," explaining that what drives us to eat too much is a combination of brain chemistry and the availability of food that strikes the perfect balance of sugar, fat, and salt. As Kessler says, "Chronic exposure to highly palatable foods changes our brains, conditioning us to seek continued stimulation. Over time, a powerful drive for a combination of sugar, fat, and salt competes with our conscious capacity to say no."

It is this fact that drives the rest of the book, offering insight into how our unhealthy eating habits are formed and what we can do about it.

Another stand-out of the book is Kessler's section on food rehab. While there are plenty of diets promising to help us control our eating and lose weight, what's missing, Kessler says is "an understanding of how we lost control over eating in the first place and how we can use that knowledge to our advantage."

It is with this statement that Kessler offers hope for those of us who feel overwhelmed by cravings and urges we can't seem to control. He goes through several steps that can help readers change their perception of food and and how they eat. Some of these steps aren't anything new such as, learning to eat 'just-right' meals that fill you up without going overboard and finding foods that are satisfying and enjoyable. What stands out is his focus on letting go of the past and realizing that it takes time and practice to fight the conditioned responses that drive our need to overeat. There are no quick fixes offered here -- no diets, meal plans or workout programs. Instead, he offers advice on how to seize control of your decisions by figuring what triggers overeating, limiting your exposure to those triggers and coming up with a plan B to deal with tempting situations.

What I like about this approach is that it acknowledges that most of us already know how to eat healthfully. It's learning how to deal with the cravings, temptations and ingrained habits that stand in our way. This is where he offers the most helpful advice and a way to get to the bottom of our own behaviors.

Overall, The End of Overeating offers impressive insight into the brain, the food industry and our own emotions, describing how these things come together in a perfect storm that drives us to overeat. It's a great resource for fitness, health and nutrition experts to understand their clients and the biology and psychology behind overeating. It's also a must-read for anyone struggling with weight loss, providing insight as well as inspiration. The layperson may find the minutiae of the scientific studies and sections on brain chemistry to be somewhat cumbersome to get through, but it's worth the extra effort.