David A. Kessler has been a medical school dean and the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. So it might surprise you to learn that he spent many nights digging through dumpsters in the back of a Chili’s restaurant. Kessler was trying to piece together the ingredients of some of the more caloric items on the menu - including the Southwestern Egg Rolls, an appetizer that comes in at a cool 910 calories and 57 grams of fat.
His research (which included more than just the dumpster diving) could lead to a new understanding of the way in which certain food combinations (such as fat, sugar and salt) actually leave us hungry and yearning for more of the same high calorie menu items. Ever describe yourself as feeling addicted to certain foods? Well, you might very well have an addiction
Foods high in fat, salt and sugar alter the brain’s chemistry in ways that compel people to overeat. “Much of the scientific research around overeating has been physiology — what’s going on in our body,” he said. “The real question is what’s going on in our brain.”
The key here is making sure people understand how what they eat impacts what they think. The food industry already understands it and in many cases they, like the tobacco industry, have worked to perfect ways to keep you coming back for more of what’s bad for you.
