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Why Our Brains Want What's Bad for Us

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 30, 2009 1:46 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Former Food and Drug Administration chief David Kessler thinks Americans are victims of “conditioned hyper-eating,” and he’s written a book about it: The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. The Wall Street Journal poked him for some answers about how food can “hijack” our brains, and how cuisine—from snack food to restaurant fare—is designed to entice.

Some highlights:

  • "I thought I was going to end up in the world of nutrition and endocrinology. I ended up inside the brain and inside the food industry."
  • "What we eat in restaurants is fat on fat on sugar on fat with salt. Pick any dish in any mid-American restaurant. What is spinach dip? Fat on salt with green stuff."
  • "Once you lay down that neuro-circuitry, it's there for life. The actual act of consumption isn't as strong as anticipation. It's the conditioning associated with a cue."
  • "This isn't a disease. But we've been captured by these stimuli. In the past, it allowed us to survive. Now we have health consequences because it's available 24/7 and we've added the emotional gloss of advertising."

A Hardee's Country Breakfast Burrito.
A Hardee's Country Breakfast Burrito.   (AP Photo)
Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler holds up a piece of carrot cake.
Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler holds up a piece of carrot cake.   (AP Photo)
Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler.
Former FDA Commissioner David Kessler.   (AP Photo)
A cook prepares southern fried chicken.
A cook prepares southern fried chicken.   (AP Photo)
Fast-food french fries.
Fast-food french fries.   (AP Photo)
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Health • Lifestyle • US

 
obesity • FDA • fat • fast food industry • sugar • overeating • salt • Food and Drug Administration • David Kessler • healthy living

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