Crave Man- The End of Overeating by David Kessler
 

Crave Man
David Kessler Knew That Some Foods Are Hard to Resist; Now He Knows Why


He went in the middle of the night, long after the last employee had locked up the Chili's Grill and Bar. He'd steer his car around the back, check to make sure no one was around and then quietly approach the dumpster.

If anyone noticed the man foraging through the trash, they would have assumed he was a vagrant. Except he was wearing black dress slacks and padded gardening gloves. "I'm surprised he didn't wear a tie," his wife said dryly.

The high-octane career path of David A. Kessler, the Harvard-trained doctor, lawyer, medical school dean and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration had come to this: nocturnal dumpster diving. Sometimes, he would just reach in. Other times, he would climb in.

It took many of these forays until Kessler emerged with his prize: ingredient labels affixed to empty cardboard boxes that spelled out the fats, salt and sugar used to make the Southwestern Eggrolls, Boneless Shanghai Wings and other dishes served by the nation's second-largest restaurant chain.

Kessler was on a mission to understand a problem that has vexed him since childhood: why he can't resist certain foods.

His resulting theory, described in his new book, "The End of Overeating," is startling. Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain's chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat. "Much of the scientific research around overeating has been physiology -- what's going on in our body," he said. "The real question is what's going on in our brain."

The ingredient labels gave Kessler information the restaurant chain declined to provide when he asked for it. At the FDA, Kessler pushed through nutritional labels on foods sold through retail outlets but stopped short of requiring the same for restaurants. Yet if suppliers ship across state lines, as suppliers for Chili's do, the ingredients must be printed on the box. That is what led Kessler, one of the nation's leading public health figures, to hang around dumpsters across California.

The labels showed the foods were bathed in salt, fat and sugars, beyond what a diner might expect by reading the menu, Kessler said. The ingredient list for Southwestern Eggrolls mentioned salt eight different times; sugars showed up five times. The "egg rolls," which are deep-fried in fat, contain chicken that has been chopped up like meatloaf to give it a "melt in the mouth" quality that also makes it faster to eat. By the time a diner has finished this appetizer, she has consumed 910 calories, 57 grams of fat and 1,960 milligrams of sodium.

Instead of satisfying hunger, the salt-fat-sugar combination will stimulate that diner's brain to crave more, Kessler said. For many, the come-on offered by Lay's Potato Chips -- "Betcha can't eat just one" -- is scientifically accurate. And the food industry manipulates this neurological response, designing foods to induce people to eat more than they should or even want, Kessler found.

His theory, born out in a growing body of scientific research, has implications not just for the increasing number of Americans struggling with obesity but for health providers and policymakers.

"The challenge is how do we explain to America what's going on -- how do we break through and help people understand how their brains have been captured?" he said.

Kessler is best remembered for his investigation of the tobacco industry and attempts to place it under federal regulation while he was FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997. Although he was appointed by George H.W. Bush, Kessler became popular among Democrats for his tough regulatory stance. He got the nickname "Eliot Knessler" after he authorized the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota to seize a large quantity of Citrus Hill Fresh Choice orange juice in 1991 because it was labeled "fresh" when it was, in fact, partially processed. After he was elected in 1992, President Bill Clinton asked Kessler to continue to run the FDA.

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I saw him interviewed by Bill Maher last night. I think that he is right on target with this. :agree: :thup:

I agree with Kessler's views here. Refined carbohydrate and fat together are a very unnatural combination. Throw in some MSG; use clever marketing and you can make food almost addictive.

Exactly!! :agree:



Bingo!!! :agree:

I noticed there are certain things that stimulate my desire to eat, not necessarily carby foods and most of them are kind of salty or salty + umami like salted nuts, cheese. Even pate kind of tweaks this in me.

I'm pretty similar. I find it very difficult to resist a combination of high fat, slightly carby - like nuts - and a toasted or baked flavour. For example, toasted, salted nuts, or flax crackers and dip. Unsalted and/or untoasted nuts don't do it at all. I wonder why the combination of "toast" flavour and salt is so attractive? What's the chemical difference between untoasted and toasted nuts? Any ideas?

I've finally realized I can't fight this particular craving, so I've pretty well stopped eating nuts, aside from macadamias, which I find easier to resist for some reason.

Rachel

Yes...me too...salty crunchy freak over here. :o
Chips were my demise, still are. I can't stop once started...so I tend to avoid them.

This also speaks to why cheeses are so tough for many people....fat + high salt in cheese....it does get hard to stop at a few ozs a day.

What I liked about what Dr Kessler said on Bill Maher last night, was that at some point, we each have to take personal responsibility for our choices.

I seem to have come to this type of conclusion on my journey as I started to "manage my internal dialoge" and refused to allow my negative mind to dominate my choices....as it always lead me down a path of destruction.:devil:

*big thumbs up*

Physiology doesn't exclude the brain.

French fries and gravy will always be like crack for me.

Nuts are good for you. So my highly disciplined older son keeps only unsalted, unroasted nuts around. These are the kind you can eat the amount you think is good for you :lol:

I imagine we are also wired differently, so that some of us have a weakness for high-fat, high-sugar foods, whereas others go for the umami, salty stuff. I also belong to the latter group - indeed, I caved into that very craving last night - salted peanuts... With beer... And, you know what, it wasn't so much the beer I was craving, but the peanuts that I was going to have with the beer. Weird. I even convinced myself that this craving was probably half-way healthy, as, apparently, peanuts are rich in CoQ10... But I bet it wasn't the CoQ10 that my brain was after...

I paid in spades today for this little adventure, though, so I shall stay well away from those little bleeders for a good long while!!!

amanda

That's how I keep it under control too.

I buy them in the shell. The effort required to eat them limits my amounts.

What AJ said. Also I use portion control. I have these little flan dishes and half fill them with nuts. About 1/4-1/3 cup of nuts. Take it upstairs with me and nibble away. I never go back for more. Was I to bring the whole can upstairs, or just leave the whole thing near me, I'd end up eating much much more.

Another trick is combine nuts with cheese. A small chunk of cheese and a handful of nuts and that's pratically a meal. It totally kills my hunger. To the point I have to avoid that combo if I am planning to eat supper, otherwise I won't be able to eat it.