Why You Eat What You Eat

The Science Behind Our Relationship with Food

By: Rachel Herz PhD

Narrated by: Jo Anna Perrin

Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Why You Eat What You Eat examines the sensory, psychological, neuroscientific, and physiological factors that influence our eating habits. Rachel Herz uncovers the fascinating and surprising facts that affect food consumption: bringing reusable bags to the grocery store encourages us to buy more treats; our beliefs about food affect the number of calories we burn; TV alters how much we eat; and what we see and hear changes how food tastes. Herz reveals useful techniques for managing cravings, such as resisting repeated trips to the buffet table, and how aromas can be used to curb overeating. Why You Eat What You Eat mixes the social with the scientific to uncover how psychology, neurology, and physiology shape our relationship with food and how food alters the relationships we have with ourselves and with one another.

©2018 RSH Enterprises, LLC (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

some topics more interesting than others

I was fascinated by many aspects of this book and found myself hooked on many of the research studies. However, the beginning and the end were the most interesting. I didn't enjoy the preoccupation with overeating/obesity as opposed to the far more interesting: wine and music pairings and the influence of mood on sugar.

Narrator speak too fast

What did you like best about Why You Eat What You Eat? What did you like least?
I really like this book and was interested in what the narrator was saying the problem is that multiple times I have a hard time to keep the rhythm of the narrator. She was speaking to fast for my taste. But overall is an interesting book that explain the relation of hour hapits and traditions with our food.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jo Anna Perrin’s performances?
Not sure. She speaks too fast

Did Why You Eat What You Eat inspire you to do anything?
It help me to understand more some of the things that I do

Great balance between popular and scientific.

Ms Herz has achieved a pleasant balance between popular and scientific writing which I greatly appreciate. The amount of research that went into the book and the experiments cited is astounding.

Even though it is a non-fiction book, I often even had the feeling like I was being told a story because the chapters (and the anecdotes in them) were so logically ordered and just flowed into each other seamlessly. Not to mention that you, as a reader, are constantly being addressed and your attention is brought to the ways you can practically apply all the findings and advice from the book.

It's a great read for anyone in the least bit interested in nutritionism, healthy living or simply the way our biology manipulates our rationality - it's astounding how much of our everyday lives is governed by food. And since we can't do much about that, you might as well get to know your biology better and learn to control it (at least as much as is humanly possible).

Suggestion for audiobook readers/listener: I do advise upping the speed to at least x 1.25 (I kept it on x 1.4 speed) since the reading speed was a bit too slow for my taste.

Full of great food trivia

Listening to this book gave me the opportunity to annoy my family with trivia tidbits about food for about a month. Thinking about food, the science of food, and the weird and interesting experiments that have been done with taste and smell sensations was fascinating, though probably not life-changing.

Some of my key takeaways
-The pace and volume of music change the pace at which you eat
-Sweet can take away pain
-The smell receptors in the nose are mostly responsible for taste and regenerate every month
-Round shapes and red plates make food sweeter
-We need lots of stimuli--crunchiness, saltiness, sweetness, texture, etc.--to really enjoy our food
-I am definitely not a super taster

It's another one of those books I wish I had read, instead of listened to, because it is hard to remember all the details. Furthermore, I found Perrin to be somewhat of an annoying reader.

Interesting food facts, but bad narrator

This book largely read as a literature review of research relating to the consumption of food. Herz did a good job sorting through to find the most interesting facts explaining food consumption for the layman.

However, the narrator leaves much to be desired. Perrin’s narration comes across as haughty, so it creates a barrier for the listener in relating to the author and material.

If audible found a new narrator for this book, then it would be worth listening to again. With this narrator, definitely not.

Fascinating information

While I felt the reader was far too monotone in her delivery, the subject matter was fascinating and insightful. The author provided extensive research and covered a multitude of topics. I really enjoyed the book and gained a greater understanding between the connection of food and life. A great read!

Sounds like a computer generated voice.

Generally good information presented in a coherent style. The reading sounded like a computer generated voice. Really strange.

Scientific study, after study, after study...

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

More practical advice, and less studies about lab rats.

What was most disappointing about Rachel Herz PhD’s story?

It was very boring, and I felt that a lot of the studies were very random in her story.

What didn’t you like about Jo Anna Perrin’s performance?

She has a very dull and irritating voice.