Hungry for change?

Aug 18, 2009 11:45 AM

I can't tell if I'm really hungry anymore. I blame it on two things: reading The End of Overeating. Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite and watching the documentary Food Inc.

A life-long dieter, I wanted to read David Kessler’s book both because he served as commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration and because I got to meet him when he was a CU Board member. The End of Overeating examines how the food industry has "hijacked" our brains to want more food, directly feeding the widely reported obesity epidemic.

Kessler attributes the decades-long national trend toward obesity to "conditioned hypereating," which is chronic exposure to highly palatable food that is designed and presented in a way that changes our brain chemistry and conditions us to seek out the continued stimulation (and pleasure) that we get from fat, sugar, and salt. That’s one amazing argument that he makes compellingly; page after page makes the case for how food is broken down and reassembled to maximize the delivery of these pleasures by triggering the opioids that give food its pleasure and dopamine that motivates eating behavior and impels us toward more food.

Kessler demonstrates how actively desire and consumption of food often goes on outside of conscious thought. He makes the point by demonstrating how chain restaurants and fast foods play on our human hardwiring, for example the appeal of things that are supernormal in size—think over stuffed potatoes or supersizing. And like the animals we are, he shows how food producers and marketers can play on our ability to be conditioned by cues that signal the promise of those pleasureable rewards we associate with eating the tasty combinations of fat, sugar, and salt that dominate the food court and frozen food aisles nationwide. Just think of the scent of cinnamon buns in the mall or the sound of the ice cream truck in summer and you realize he's right.

Multiple physiological, psychological, and socio-cultural forces play a role in eating behaviors and food cravings. The underlying mechanism is unknown but a variety of hormones and brain chemicals have been implicated. "Foods with high sugar-fat and salt-fat combinations, commonly referred to as 'trigger foods,' often lead to overeating," says Dr. Orly Avitzur, Consumer Reports' medical adviser. "It’s a serious problem for many, and likely plays a role in our rising obesity epidemic which affects one out of four people in most states today.

Food Inc. shouldn’t have been the next movie I saw. The documentary is an exploration of how out-of-whack our food system is relative to what’s needed, safe, and sustainable. In 93 minutes the documentary covered pesticides, genetic engineering, foodborne illness, organics, factory farming, farm worker protection, nutritional labeling, cloning, and the global food crisis.

My family loves to cook and we love to eat. Is the pleasure we take in this most fundamental part of living even ours?

I want real food, not produced food that comes to me with ingredients I can’t name and a cost to the community that hasn’t actually been calculated. There really is no such thing as a free lunch or even a 99 cent meal. Like issues from environmental impact to health reform, getting good wholesome food onto my plate, into my family's fridge or the kids' school cafeteria is something I can't do alone. I need to get smart. Yeah, I'm hungry—for change.

—Elena Falcone, Consumer Reports Information Analyst

Consumers Union is active in improving labeling of food ingredients, clarifying claims made by organic products, limiting the use of pesticides, and improving the food safety system to reduce food contaminants. Learn more and consider joining our campaign Not In My Food to get the Senate to act on food safety in September.

Photo courtesy of WordRidden