Obesity and overeating is a major problem among kids, too – and this book offers a lot of insight into why it’s happening – and even some tips on how it can be changed – in a casual tone that is surprisingly easy and even fun to read.
Hijacked: How Your Brain is Fooled By Food
by David A. Kessler, MD
Tundra Books, ISBN: 978 1 77049 503 6
This doctor starts out by admitting that he was one of the many, many people who struggle with overeating, and set out to find out what changed in the 1980s that made it start happening to such a large percentage of the population. What he discovered is quite interesting, and very eye-opening. Starting with some interesting neuroscience and moving on to talking to food industry insiders, he found that certain ingredients create a different reaction in the brain than “real” food, and that makers of packaged food consciously tap into that to make eaters want to keep eating.
Moving forward from this revelation, he tries to empower readers to not only stop feeling bad about their perceived lack of control by understanding it, but also to learn how to change their relationship with food and to start making better choices that can thwart the grip that processed food has on the brains of overeaters.
This is not just a book for overeaters, though they may find it very helpful, but also for the rest of us and our kids. Children doing projects on food and nutrition should have this information, and so should the rest of us, so we can see what we are eating with the benefit of this very eye-opening information about what it does in our brains.
As far as non-fiction goes, I would also add that this is incredibly readable, written in a conversational tone that is accessible to younger readers without feeling at all like it is overly simplistic or talking down to them. Rather, Kessler comes across as someone confessing, sharing, and encouraging, speaking directly to the reader. He has hit the perfect tone to be interesting and helpful, and I was surprised to find that I wanted to keep reading this.
This looks really interesting! I’m going to pick this one up! thx A!
Sounds like this should be on a required-reading list, Alice. Information related to food ingestion, food preparation, and indeed farming and the like should really become base information for all, just like reading and mathematics. People don’t just come with “kit” smarts about whole foods and processed foods… and it can make a world of difference to your health (and to the environment) when one learns about “real” food. Knowledge is power!!