Mindless Eating

Why We Eat More Than We Think

By: Brian Wansink Ph.D.

Narrated by: Marc Cashman

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

In this illuminating and groundbreaking new book, food psychologist Brian Wansink shows why you may not realize how much you’re eating, what you’re eating - or why you’re even eating at all.

• Does food with a brand name really taste better?
• Do you hate brussels sprouts because your mother did?
• Does the size of your plate determine how hungry you feel?
• How much would you eat if your soup bowl secretly refilled itself?
• What does your favorite comfort food really say about you?
• Why do you overeat so much at healthy restaurants?

Brian Wansink is a Stanford Ph.D. and the director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab. He’s spent a lifetime studying what we don’t notice: the hidden cues that determine how much and why people eat. Using ingenious, fun, and sometimes downright fiendishly clever experiments like the “bottomless soup bowl,” Wansink takes us on a fascinating tour of the secret dynamics behind our dietary habits.

How does packaging influence how much we eat? Which movies make us eat faster? How does music or the color of the room influence how much we eat? How can we recognize the “hidden persuaders” used by restaurants and supermarkets to get us to mindlessly eat? What are the real reasons most diets are doomed to fail? And how can we use the “mindless margin” to lose - instead of gain - 10 to 20 pounds in the coming year?

Mindless Eating will change the way you look at food, and it will give you the facts you need to easily make smarter, healthier, more mindful and enjoyable choices at the dinner table, in the supermarket, in restaurants, at the office - even at a vending machine - wherever you decide to satisfy your appetite.

©2006 Brian Wansink (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Entertaining...Isn't so much a diet book as a how-to on better facilitating the interaction between the feed-me messages of our stomachs and the controls in our heads." (Publishers Weekly)

“[Mindless Eating] does more than just chastise those of us guilty of stuffing our faces. It also examines the effectiveness of such popular diets as South Beach or Atkins, and offers useful tips to consciously eat nutritiously.” (Boston Herald)

I'm hungry for more!

I was sad when I 'turned' the last page. A great read and can't wait for another book from this author.

Facinating!

This book opened my eyes to a lot of hidden behaviors we exhibit when it comes to food and their triggers. I loved this book!

Slow start.

Slow start for the first 4 chapters.

Great section on getting kids to eat certain foods.

Ended strong.

A Real Eye Opener!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Realizing what goes on in your mind and learning to make lasting changes.

What did you like best about this story?

Many studies to support information in the book.

Which scene was your favorite?

A study that provided "free" 5 days old stale popcorn to viewers and they still ate most of the popcorn just because of the habits due to the environment.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Got Ya'all Fool"

Any additional comments?

Worth reading.

Best nutrition book I’ve ever read

This book is the most science back helpful nutrition book I’ve ever read. This man spent decades researching food psychology and has provided countless insights that are proven to help you succeed beyond the stupid fat diet the other books recommend that don’t work

Valuable information for anyone who eats.

Its pretty long, but an easy listen. The narrator is pleasant and there is a bit of relaxed humor tossed in. I found the descriptions of the food studies long enough for validation, but brief enough to keep things moving along. The results are some tips that everyone can incorprate into their lives to keep on top of the battle of the bulge:)
Most importantly, this book gives tips for lifestyle changes that can be permanent. Enough fad diet books already out there!(They don't work.)

Very funny and interesting

What you will not find in this book is advice how to eat and diet better. What you will find are examples - supported by several studies - how people choose their food. It's really astonishing how details influence what and how much we eat. Knowing that, one could choose the meals better, provided we always think before we choose.

Eye-opening, practical, effective

Just finished listening. This Mindless Eating audiobook is informative, motivating, and rich with executable advice. I made several highlights to review again, and once I've revisited those in-depth, I'll give the whole a-book another listen. Narrator's voice and diction are PERFECT. Before I finished, my wife and I began implementing some of the simple suggestions scattered throughout, already resulting in shrinking waistlines and fatter wallets -- we're making better eating decisions because of the knowledge and advice bestowed by this a-book. Priceless. Truly worthy of 5 Stars all around.

Practical, inspiring

I am a yo-yo dieter. I enjoyed this book because for the first time ever, I feel like I have found a practical guide to not a diet, but a life change. I look forward to putting the things I've learned into action.

Makes you think.

As a true foodie and nutritional researcher, this book was invaluable. Brian Wansink has an amazing imagination for researching how people eat and more importantly, why. He describes the experiments with humorous detail, and makes research readable and understandable. This is critical info for those of us who are trying to improve our health and be conscious of our eating habits and patterns.