Overeating in America: Controlling Our Appetites by Controlling Our Brains

      New York Times writer, Michael Moss, recently compiled an article entitled, "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food," a case study of sorts that examines the role scientists play in the obesity crisis in America.  As he uncovers, food scientists, experts in a field that often uses physical and biological sciences to improve food for the consuming public, are hired kingpins in an industry driven by deception, delusion and duplicity.  Big food companies like Coca-Cola, General Mills and Frito-Lay spend millions of dollars in not just getting consumers to buy their products, but in keeping them hooked. 

     As the article notes, in America today, one in three adults and one in five children are considered clinically obese.  Among the top causes of death--cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes and stroke--our diets are critically at play.  Heart disease is number one and as the Mayo Clinic recently announced, is 80-percent preventable with exercise and proper nutrition.  Yet Americans continue to cash in on convenience and sell out on their health; our diets consist more heavily of food items that have been processed and refined to include excessive amounts of added sugar, salt and saturated fat, to which we have fallen victims.

     As Moss outlines in his article, the food industry hires scientists to review, analyze and prescribe variables in food that promote "sensory specific satiety," an effect that causes consumers to not just consume a product, but to continue consuming it to the point of overeating.  He describes a common term in the food industry dubbed "bliss point," an interval of sensory experience that is reached when a food's palatability (i.e its crunch, flavor, texture) culminates in a pinnacle of enjoyment that depresses the brain's ability to tell you to stop eating.  

     He goes on to divulge that sugar and salt are addictive substances and that by regularly consuming items such as packaged cookies and potato chips, our taste buds develop a sweet-and-salty sensory-dependency. Moss describes a study conducted by an expert in cravings who found that people could beat their additions to salt by simply refraining from salty foods long enough for their taste buds to return to a level of normal sensitivity.  

     In other words, if we open our eyes and our minds to become active and critical consumers, we can overcome the sabotage the food industry has set for us.  We can scrutinize food labels and avoid products containing high amounts of sugar and sodium by simply not buying them.  Choose water and lower calorie beverages with meals.  Snack on plain roasted almonds as opposed to the salted variety.  Eat fresh, whole fruit over that which has been canned in a sugar-loaded syrup.  Bake your own cookies and desserts and control the amount of sugar that is used.  Eat in moderation. America is a country of surplus, excess and overabundance and food is no exception--the choices are endless, but it is time the American consumer makes the right choices.

Here is a link to the original article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?hpw&_r=2&pagewanted=all&