The End of Overeating

Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite

By: David A. Kessler MD

Narrated by: Blair Hardman

Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Most of us know what it feels like to fall under the spell of food - when one slice of pizza turns into half a pie, or a handful of chips leads to an empty bag. But it's harder to understand why we can't seem to stop eating - even when we know better. When we want so badly to say "no," why do we continue to reach for food?

Dr. David Kessler, the dynamic former FDA commissioner who reinvented the food label and tackled the tobacco industry, now reveals how the food industry has hijacked the brains of millions of Americans. The result? America's number-one public health issue.

Dr. Kessler cracks the code of overeating by explaining how our bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat, and salt. Food manufacturers create products by manipulating these ingredients to stimulate our appetites, setting in motion a cycle of desire and consumption that ends with a nation of overeaters. The End of Overeating explains for the first time why it is exceptionally difficult to resist certain foods and why it's so easy to overindulge. Dr. Kessler met with top scientists, physicians, and food industry insiders.

The End of Overeatinguncovers the shocking facts about how we lost control over our eating habits - and how we can get it back. Dr. Kessler presents groundbreaking research, along with what is sure to be a controversial view inside the industry that continues to feed a nation of overeaters - from popular brand manufacturers to advertisers, chain restaurants, and fast-food franchises. For the millions of people struggling with weight as well as for those of us who simply don't understand why we can't seem to stop eating our favorite foods, Dr. Kessler's cutting-edge investigation offers new insights and helpful tools to help us find a solution. There has never been a more thorough, compelling, or in-depth analysis of why we eat the way we do.

©2009 David A. Kessler, M.D. (P)2009 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For those that are SICK of dieting

Given his academic background, I was worried this might be too "dense" a read. Not so, it was a nice blend of science and anecdote, very entertaining and thought provoking. A must read for those that have struggled with weight and weight related health issues. His solutions for ending the cycle are not exactly revalatory. He does present compelling information to explain the explosion of weight gain in the US. I knew it was high fructose corn syrup!!

Intelligent and Compelling

The first book of this type I have ever listened to, but on hearing the sample, it captured my attention.

I found it to be fascinating. The knowledge about food, the food industry and most importantly about the way your brain works in regards to food stimulus is amazing. You can hardly listen to this book and not gain an 'awareness' concerning what and how much you eat. I like to call it "Food Mindfulness". Knowledge is power, so if you are a little short on personal power over food listen to this book and get it back!

The food industry wants to make money and really doesn't give a damn about you, just how much you eat of their food and how often you keep coming back for more. They have few restrictions on their advertising. It is our responsibility to gain the knowledge in a free society, and the author has gone to great lengths to assist us.

The narration was excellent for this type of book. Scientific studies pointing to the real truth is always a pleasure.

This book is looooong....

....but I have to admit, helpful if you like a cerebral/technical reason for your food habits. For me, intellectual explanations behind why I do things helps me to make changes. The author explains that "conditioned hyper-eating" and "highly palatable foods" are the foundation for our collective current obesity problems, and along about chapter 40, gives suggestions to modify behavior to regain self-control in the face of foods that are designed to be the object of obsession. Worth reading if you struggle to lose weight and are seduced into over-eating certain favorite foods.

Could have been summed up in under an hour...

The author talks about how we got to the point where the food we eat is making us fat, but takes what seems like a really long time to get to the "end of overeating". An overall interesting book by the guy who gave us the nutrition labels we know and love, but a bit long-winded.

great information to learn

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

I learn better by listening than reading. This book provided a lot of evidence and information that I don't think I would have been patient enough to read. Having someone read it to me was perfect. And in audio form, it is useful to be able to replay some of the suggestions for breaking bad habits and creating good ones. Important information about how we are being manipulated by food companies was presented -- and good coaching was provided on how to fight back.

What did you like best about this story?

What I liked about this non-fiction work was that the case was convincingly made about how and why we eat addictive foods that are layered with sugar, fat and salt -- and then strategies were presented as to how to we can arm ourselves against those luring messages.

Which character – as performed by Blair Hardman – was your favorite?

As a book of non-fiction, there was only a narrator.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me think about how we as a society overindulge, how I succumb, and encouraged the reader to rethink our behaviors and initiate change to more healthful behaviors. It made me angry at companies for exploiting us -- and angry at myself and society for being such ignorant and willing victims.

An important addition to nutrition literature

The author has collected a lot if information that will assist people in understanding their relationship with food in today's nutritional landscape. There is more to the story of food as medicine. Read this book, yes. But keep going to The China Study, How Not To Die, and The Starch Solution after that.

My compulsive eating habits are not uniquely mine

This book was written with the insight of someone who has gone through the same thing. In less than 20 years that I've been out of high school I've put on close to 100 lbs. I've gained and lost but never maintained. Every time I stop a diet, I've gained a bit more than I had before.

The author explains why and how our society has become so large compared to years past. He made me feel normal for not controlling my overeating.

You will feel understood and will provide the building blocks to take back control of your eating habits with the expectation that there will be challenges at first.

Reading (rather listening to) this book has given me the inspiration I need to start making the lifestyle changes that I so desperately need. I will be joining a support group to start because I'm not alone in overeating!

Well done but deliveru can be improved

Details the fast food and restaurant world of getting people hooked on coming back for more of their food. This facilitates diabetes and related diseases - not to mention "overweightness"! The last bit is most interesting on the day to day psychological tools to use to change one's addiction to these (mostly) industrial fake foods. Maybe the reading experience is different from the listening experience, but listening was not as interesting as I had hoped. The story was drawn out too much for 60% of the time... but it was worth the 40% of insight. Thank you for creating this book.

Great content, but I dislike narrator

This book has some very good content, well worth hearing and considering, but I find the narrator's voice to be grating and unpleasant to the point that it is unhappy work to listen to! For that reason, I wish I had not purchased it.

A Serious Subject

David Kessler's "The End of Overeating" is an informative and disturbing book. Since encounting this work, I cannot enter a restaurant with my old attitudes at all. Specifically, Kessler (a former FDA commissioner under Bush and Clinton) shows how salt, sugars, and fat are being integrated into processed food. Then he details how these three in concert can become addictive and stimulate pleasure centers in the brain. He argues that food processors take advantage of this situtation to keep customers coming back for more.

As one who struggles with my weight, this is one book that has given me a new way to look at what I am eating and (more importantly) a new motivation to further change my eating patterns. His discussion of the psychological and sensory stimuli that lead to what he labels "conditioned hypereating" can be avoided and he reveals just how that might be accomplished. This book is important to all Americans who want to live a healthier life.