Spas: Pay Attention to the New Book “The End of Overeating“
by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider
If you could see the book shelf in my office (and a list of all the books I have read in the past three decades) you might be surprised to see how many of those books have been about weight loss. Not only has this topic been part of my studies and lifelong career, (I wrote a research paper comparing children’s weight with IQ my first year in college), but I have also had my own experience with overeating issues. For several years of my life I was an “exercise bulimic” who ran marathons to support my habit of overeating which was the true goal of all that training. I mention this because it will help you put the following statement in context:
“I just finished what I think is the most important book on weight loss that I have ever read!”
Dr. David A. Kessler’s new book, The End of Overeating is currently #5 on the New York Times best seller list. (My prediction is that it will remain on that list for a good long time – at least I hope so!) 
This book really resonated with me. I can tell by all the underlining I did while reading it. Every page. Multiple times. Crazy! That’s because I kept turning the pages and saying…wow, that’s incredible. Wow…I didn’t know that. Wow…this is hysterical. Wow, this just makes me want to cry.
I am going to have to devote two blog posts to this book to share with you some of the pearls of wisdom I found within. It is my fervent hope that I can convince those who are interested in the topic of weight loss (and that is most of us) to buy the book or download it on Kindle ($9.99). Not only do I think that it has an important personal message for all of us, but I think the spa industry in particular can be seen in an entirely new light as a result. After all, spas – especially destination spas – are one of the few places left on the planet where solutions to the dilemma Dr. Kessler outlines can be achieved.
Here are a few tidbits to give you a sense of where this is going.
- “hyperpalatable” (ideal combinations of sugar, fat and salt) foods are actually “altering the biological circuitry of our brains”
- “where traditional cuisine is meant to satisfy, American industrial food is meant to stimulate.”
- “Intentionally or not, industry activities take advantage of the biology of the brain, selling us products that alter our bodies.”
- “the excitement in the brain generated by these multi-modal stimuli increases our desire for further stimulation.”
- “the goal is to get you hooked” (craveability)
And in Dr. Kessler’s words:
“millions of people …don’t have any of the eating disorders we’ve learned to recognize and treat, but food is never far from their minds. And once they begin eating, they can’t seem to stop. Long after they’ve ceased to feel hungry, they’re still eating. No one has ever explained what’s happening to them and how they can control their eating. That’s my goal in this book.”
“…the struggle to resist certain foods isn’t unique to people who are overweight or obese–people who maintain a healthy weight also face this challenge. How can something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie hold such power over so many of us? I had to go inside the food industry and understand the workings of our brains to comprehend the essence of this struggle. The food industry designs foods to be powerful stimuli. And what is served in many restaurants is nothing more than FAT on FAT on FAT loaded with sugar and salt.”
“I wanted the answer to what would appear to be a simple question: why is it so difficult to control what and how much we eat? What I learned was that our brain circuits become rewired by certain foods, so that we end up wanting and eating more than we need. Naturally, my next question became: how can we alter our response to food? In more technical language, how can we make the needed “critical perceptual shift” that fundamentally changes the way we view food?”
In the next blog….solutions.
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Hi Susie, Thanks for telling us about this book, which sounds wonderful. I'm coming to grips with the fact that even small amounts of sugar and wine (a sugar!) can have a bad affect on my brain and body — but it's hard to give them up altogether.Thanks for sharing about your own past struggles. Anitra Brown
Wonderful blog!
There are so many diet books, and so many of them are filled with information that's questionable, but when I looked up Dr. Kessler, I was impressed to discover that he's a former head of the FDA, best known for his anti-smoking efforts. On June 22, The New York Times published an article about him and this book called "How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains." It's very informative.Dale Burg
Hi Susie,I will have to get this book and have a read as I have been aware of these issues for some time, however have not had a reference to put it all together.On the back of this concept are a few other things you may be interested.Both dairy and wheat produce a chemical in people who do not digest them completely called caseinomorphine and glutenomorphine. Both have a chemical influence on the brain causing severe cravings when not consumed for some time because there is literally a withdrawal process happening in the same way as a morphine addiction. This affect is very evident in may autistic children when dairy and wheat are removed.It is my belief that many of the other processed foods have a similar chemical addiction occurring which we are not aware of yet. When we consume these foods they are like a drug and cause us to over consume because they are making us feel better emotionally, just the same as morphine or heroin does. The more we eat, although we are full, the more the chemical and the better we feel emotionally for a short time.The more we process foods and remove them from the way nature intended, the more chance these chemicals can be created with the amount of chemical additives in foods.Another theory relates to our glandular feedback system. The body is a creature of habit. When we have sugar one day, the next day you will crave it again. This is because sugar induces a glandular reaction in the pancreas. Our whole glandular system acts in a similar way. For example, sleep signals usually occur at the same time each day, female hormone cycle is a set cycle which occurs each month. When food triggers responses from the glandular system either through a stimulation or sedative affect, the next day if repeated, our body begins to expect that response and craves the substance which created the response.The final concept to consider is our moods are not solely affected by external events. Most of our emotional wellbeing is a physiological reaction. Depression is not a mental disease, it is a physiological one. Same as schizophrenia, and post natal depression for example, largely physiological. Imbalance in physical substances such as brain neurotransmitters cause the way people feel. A good example of this is premenstrual women. The way they are feeling is usually associated with emotions, but no, it is purely physiological effects of the hormones. Nothing to do with how well balanced they are emotionally.I hope this is not too technical, but thought you might appreciate these observations from years of practice.Kind regardsJeff ButterworthSpa DirectorTalise Spa
Great minds think alike. I agree totally that this is the best book out. Wonderful, Wonderful.I ordered two dozen for selling at the Mercado about six weeks ago. I will have your blog information printed and post it on top of the stack of books that are for sale.Much love,Deborah
This book sounds really good I think I will be putting it on my must buy list. Thank you for the info.
It is extremely interesting for me to read this post. Thank you for it. I like such topics and everything that is connected to them. I definitely want to read a bit more soon.