The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat Spiral-Bound | December 24, 2018

From a leading obesity and neuroscience researcher, The Hungry Brain uses cutting-edge science to answer the questions: why do we overeat and what can we do about it?

No one wants to overeat. And certainly no one wants to overeat for years, become overweight, and develop diabetes or heart disease. Yet two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, showing that most of us do precisely that. Why does our behavior betray our own intentions to be lean and healthy? The problem, argues obesity and neuroscience researcher Stephan Guyenet, is not necessarily a lack of willpower or an incorrect understanding of what to eat. Rather, our appetites and food choices are led astray by ancient, instinctive brain circuits that play by the rules of a survival game that no longer exists. And these circuits don’t care about how you’ll look in a bathing suit next summer.

To make the case, The Hungry Brain takes readers on an eye-opening journey through cutting-edge neuroscience research that has never before been available to a general audience. The Hungry Brain delivers profound insights into why the brain undermines our weight goals, and translates these insights into practical guidelines for eating well and staying slim. Along the way, it explores how the human brain works, revealing how this one organ makes us who we are.