Fitness Monday has become a regular feature at Dkos with a small group of active participants that want a better health and life for them, their families, and their friends. We gather to share, update, and educate, and learn. Today's edition will focus exclusively on the newest book, The End to Overeating, by Dr David Kessler. Publisher for the book is Rodale Press, which is a huge international company that features many divisions. I have been an active member of Men's Health for years.
Today, Dr Kessler will join us for a short time to discuss his newest book to field questions, respond to a few comments, and to give us a better insight into the Food Industry. He will be available from shortly after this diary is published until about 12:15 PM EDT. I think we may have worked out the login issues we dealt with last night with help from mcjoan here at DKos. I spoke with Dr Kessler around 9:30 EDT today and it appears we are all set for action.
So join me below for some information on his book and let the fun begin.
The issue of overeating is a major health issue and deserves much discussion and research. I hope that you will agree. After further reading of the diary, I hope that you will consider a "recommend" so that DKos viewers can have ample opportunity to discuss this issue.
First, I want all to see this video that features Dr Kessler from Amazon where his book is selling.
Dr Kessler first became enthralled with understanding what emotions caused us to seek out certain foods to extreme after watching an Oprah Winfrey Show where women were discussing their battle with food, their weight, and their health. He saw himself in their stories and voices. He obviously was sucessful in moving this mission into the book because I see myself in many pitfalls he describes.
Recently, there was a great diary by Ellinorianne entitled The Unbearable Weight of being Obese. In her diary, I heard some of these same themes and there was some discussion of Dr Kessler's book. Upon doing just some research, I found these links for you follow at your convenience:
Colbert and Dr Kessler
Huffington Post with Louise McCready and Dr Kessler
NPR and Dr Kessler
Diane Rehm and Dr Kessler
As I mentioned above, I often saw myself being described in the book. Almost three years ago, I worked as a store manager for Home Depot. My assigned store was almost 35 miles one way through the RTP area of Raleigh/Durham. I often worked late nights after an exhausting full day of retail. I started going by a neighborhood bar that served great "hot wings". I would often add a side salad just to make myself feel better about having two beers and a plate of their wings. I couldn't resist them. I could have returned to home without passing this location but it was as if the car was on automatic pilot. Even if I had better intentions when I left work for home, the "anticipation" as Kessler describes it took over. It was like looking at a full plate of chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven with the smell in the air. Many of us can't resist.
In the book, Dr Kessler gives scientific data showing the link that animals have to sugar, fat, and salt. Mice that would find the correct path to those treats that offered increasing amounts of combined sugar and fat. They became like Superman and would leap talk buildings to reach their destination.
He showed that the dopamine created in the brain is the same as exhibited for drug users and alcoholics. The neural circuitry is the same and our actions around certain foods are just as dangerous.
The food industry shares with him their trade secrets. He attends conferences all over the world to better understand what the food industry does to the food to make it so appealing. There is a thin line in satiety of food that the industry has crossed. It quickly becomes "hyper overeating". We are thinking about "What's for dinner" while we are still eating lunch. Obsessive for some... addictive for others.
As a former educator (principal in Wake County for over 10 years), I watch younger and younger children becoming obese. As a Pediatrician, Dr Kessler is also acutely aware of this trend. He describes how the homeostasis that normally works to regulate your body's overeating in children is being defeated. Children are less and less inclined to eat less after having gorged on a whole bag of cookies in the pantry. If it involves the "layering" of sugar, fats, and salts, their response is to want more immediately and not allow their body to adjust.
The American public is 65% overweight or obese based upon BMI calculations. What can we do to counter this expanding (excuse the pun) trend. Dr Kessler, who pioneered the fight against tobacco, tends to want more education of the public than regulation on the food industry. The book is not a hard hitting expose of the food industry as Marion Nestle or others but the research and the approach are just as devastating.
Finally, the book is an easy read. By that I mean it is written for the layman. I especially like an author who ends a chapter with a paragraph or two that picques your interest to move into the next chapter. He does this. The chapters are small (4-8 pages normally) so it became easy just to move through the book. I hope that once you read it you will agree.
For millions of Americans who struggle with their weight, their body image, and the many stresses in today's life, this book offers us some avenues for relief that haven't been as thoughtfully discussed or artfully described as he places before us. I hope that all will read soon if you haven't already, The End of Overeating, Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite.
If all goes well, I plan to publish the diary close to 11:00 EDT and Dr Kessler should join us then. I hope we can pull in some new readers to Fitness Monday and move the diary onto the recommended list. Again, Dr Kessler will be with us until 12:15 PM EDT. Welcome Dr Kessler!