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The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat Paperback – December 24, 2018
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A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
From an obesity and neuroscience researcher with a knack for engaging, humorous storytelling, 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 end up with a high risk of diabetes or heart disease--yet two thirds of Americans do precisely that. Even though we know better, we often eat too much. Why does our behavior betray our own intentions to be lean and healthy? The problem, argues obesity and neuroscience researcher Stephan J. 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 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 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 transforms these insights into practical guidelines for eating well and staying slim. Along the way, it explores how the human brain works, revealing how this mysterious organ makes us who we are.
- Print length304 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateDecember 24, 2018
- Dimensions5.35 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
- ISBN-101250081203
- ISBN-13978-1250081209
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“No more a diet book than ‘Anna Karenina’ is a romance novel, but for those interested in the complex science of overeating, it is essential.”
―The New York Times Book Review
"Many people have influenced my thinking on human nutrition and metabolism, but one person stands out as completely altering my understanding of why we get fat. That person is Stephan Guyenet."
― Robb Wolf, author of the New York Times bestseller, The Paleo Solution
“I have followed Stephan Guyenet’s career as a researcher and blogger for over five years and have been impressed with both his objectivity and ability to distill complex information into easily understood explanations.”
― Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint ―Mark Sisson, author of The Primal Blueprint
"In a world of increasing information overload, Dr. Stephan Guyenet’s research and writing is like a gem in the rough. He has a remarkable ability to distill the latest scientific research and communicate it in a clear and engaging way, and his level-headed, evidence-based approach sets him apart from the pack."
― Chris Kresser, author of the New York Times bestseller, Your Personal Paleo Code
"A remarkable book that approaches health and weight management not through diet or fitness, per se, but by understanding and combating the urge to overeat. This fun, insightful, and important text will appeal to both science-lovers and fitness fanatics."
― Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Following in the footsteps of Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow, Guyenet looks to the structure of the human brain and how it has evolved over time... A helpful guide offering encouragement to those looking for ways to lead healthier lives."
― Kirkus Reviews
"Blending detailed attention to the neurobiology of appetite and genetics with a sweeping view of human evolutionary biology, Stephan Guyenet provides an exceptionally complete understanding of why, despite the prevailing desire to be lean, so few of us are. The lessons of science, spanning decades, are presented clearly, interpreted fairly, and used as the basis for an eminently sensible set of responses. Illuminating, entertaining, and empowering, The Hungry Brain is highly recommended."
― David L. Katz, M.D., Director of the Yale Prevention Research Center and author of Disease-Proof
"The Hungry Brain explains how a modern diet turns us into leptin-resistant junk food seeking zombies. Everyone with an interest in metabolism will enjoy Stephan Guyenet’s engaging and sometimes witty walk through the fascinating world of neurobiology."
―Catherine Shanahan, M.D., author of Deep Nutrition
“Stephan J. Guyenet does a wonderful job explaining what triggers our food cravings and how we can best manage those impulses. The Hungry Brain is necessary reading for anyone interested in optimizing their health and fitness, and for those who consult people on those topics. I highly recommend this book, and commend Stephan Guyenet for this exceptional work.”
―Doug Brignole, Bodybuilding Champion / Former Mr. America and Mr. Universe; Co-author of
Million Dollar Muscle and author of The Physics of Fitness
“If you want to understand why we get fat and how to stay slender, go no further than Stephan Guyenet's The Hungry Brain. Untangling the vast knot of nutrition science using the clear lens of neuroscience, he explains where hunger comes from and why the Western world has been plagued with an epidemic of obesity in the last 40 years. Forget gluttony, forget behavior problems or weakness...we're facing eons of evolutionary pressure leading to unique pressures to overconsume. Guyenet reveals science-based methods to undo this modern trap of overeating and obesity.”
― Emily Deans, M.D., Harvard Medical School instructor of psychiatry and author of the Evolutionary Psychiatry blog
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Flatiron Books; Reprint edition (December 24, 2018)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 304 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250081203
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250081209
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.35 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #35,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Stephan J. Guyenet received a BS in biochemistry from the University of Virginia, a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Washington, and spent a total of 12 years in the neuroscience research world. His scientific publications have been cited more than 2,100 times by his peers. His most recent work investigates the neuroscience of eating behavior and obesity. Today, he continues his mission to advance science as a writer, speaker, and science consultant.
He lives in the Seattle area, grows unreasonable amounts of potatoes, and brews a mean hard cider.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book informative and helpful for understanding the brain and its relationship with food. They appreciate the author's demystifying of studies and translating them into language that is accessible to readers outside of the specialized field. The book is described as an engaging, easy read, with clear explanations and conclusions that are digestible.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book informative and helpful for understanding the brain's relationship with food. They appreciate the author's demystifying of studies and translation into language that is easy to understand. The book helps readers better understand their brain's processes and how willpower often fails. It brings neuroscience front and center, bringing medical facts and explanations to life.
"I highly recommend the purchase of this outstanding weight loss book to weight loss professionals but more importantly to overweight people like me..." Read more
"...Perhaps the most profound and useful insight is that just as overly stimulating foods inexorably drive fat gain, bland foods inexorably drive..." Read more
"This is a ground breaking work. Guyenet has taken dynamite and blown up the simplistic paradigm of “calories in/calories out.”..." Read more
"...It also brings neuroscience front and center, whereas on the blog I feel like the inner workings of the brain make important but only occasional..." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and easy to follow. The author explains everything in detail, but in a way that is accessible to educated readers outside of the specialized field. He breaks down the basic information into laymen's terms, making it understandable. Overall, readers describe it as well-written and informative.
"...AND he breaks down into laymen's terms all the basic info that we need to understand ourselves better...." Read more
"...Guyenet combines neurological expertise with an accessible writing style to explain clearly why so many of us lack the ability to choose otherwise...." Read more
"This is a very interesting book that ties together many of the intriguing threads I've observed over a lifetime of eating (and reading about eating)...." Read more
"...he was going to top his already thorough, engaging, and meticulously crafted blog posts. Well, let’s just say it did not disappoint!..." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2021We live in bodies that are complex with intricate, interactive systems. We fool ourselves when we want a simple pill to fix our problem so we can keep eating as much of the high-palatable, highly processed food we want to eat. Dr. Guyenet explains in great detail how our brain is key in our overeating and gives us very practical means to, as he says, outsmart it. Yes, the book is VERY technical, very scientific.... but it's also very helpful and very interesting. AND he breaks down into laymen's terms all the basic info that we need to understand ourselves better.
By becoming more aware of my overeating and learning more about being satisfied with lower-palatable foods (in addition to the changes I was already implementing in balancing hormones, drinking more water and being consistent with walking and yoga), I began to drop weight. It was significant enough that people were noticing and asking what I was doing, even before I saw it myself. (I had stopped constantly looking in the mirror.) Six months in and I'm still implementing and tweaking things as I pay more attention to how my body responds to what I eat.
If you're looking for an easy read or an easy answer, keep going. Don't buy the book. BUT if you are looking for serious answers and willing to make changes as you read and understand more, buy this book! Digest it (pun intended) thoughtfully and change yourself.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2024I highly recommend the purchase of this outstanding weight loss book to weight loss professionals but more importantly to overweight people like me who need good help and advice to lose their extra weight and gain better lifestyles!
- Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2017"I'd do anything to be healthy, except eat right and exercise," said the comedian. Why do people gorge themselves into ill health and painful, life-shortening diseases, year after year? Is eating for nutrition really so unpleasant that more and more of us prefer a lifetime of diabetes, obesity, and constant pain?
Guyenet combines neurological expertise with an accessible writing style to explain clearly why so many of us lack the ability to choose otherwise. In simple terms, our brains are finely tuned to an ancestral environment where food was hard to get and much less palatable than it is today. Extremely palatable foods combining sugar, salt, fat and similar ingredients simply didn't exist until recent generations, and consuming them wreaks havoc with our otherwise robust metabolisms. Instincts that normally prevent starvation drive us instead to chronically overeat.
You'll learn about the various structures and chemicals in the brain that govern decision-making and learning in general, and how these apply to food. You'll read one of the most competent descriptions of the fat-storage hormone leptin, how it works and how we become resistant to its effects. Most valuably, you'll learn practical tips for controlling one of life's most difficult challenges: chronic hunger.
Perhaps the most profound and useful insight is that just as overly stimulating foods inexorably drive fat gain, bland foods inexorably drive leanness. Guyenet makes the crucial point that it is not those who are accustomed to a bland diet who suffer from cravings and binges, but those who are accustomed to hyperpalatable foods. Those of us who are serious about controlling their body composition will find that this agrees with our experience, and will make the most of this insight, helped along by Guyenet's memorable explanations and recounting of key experiments.
Guyenet unfortunately wastes a chapter on ill-conceived public policy recommendations. He suggests coercive measures such as increased taxation based on the premise that giving people correct information is not enough to result in healthy choices. He then segues without irony into a chapter of information that you, the reader, can use to make healthy choices.
He also focuses on the brain to the exclusion of the enteric nervous system -- the gut -- and its resident microbiome, where all the neurotransmitters found in the brain are also produced, often in much greater quantity. This is a rapidly emerging field of study, and it is disappointing that he does not even mention the seminal experiments demonstrating obese mice spontaneously becoming lean when populated with gut flora from lean mice. Microbiology is not his specialty, but then neither is sleep science nor the psychology of stress control, topics which he ably summarizes.
More detail on the neural effects of exercise on adiposity would have been welcome. Why, for example, are sprinters lean and muscular but distance runners skinny-fat? What about the hormones ghrelin and orexin and their effect on stimulating appetite? How about insulin resistance and its effect blunting fat metabolism and possible role in Alzheimer's? What about micronutrient deficiency and its roles in promoting hunger even when a satiating amount of calories have been consumed?
But it is not fair to expect him to cover all these topics, and in fact a credit to his skill that we wish he would. This book is not the final word on controlling adiposity, but represents a large and underappreciated piece of the puzzle.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2018This is a very interesting book that ties together many of the intriguing threads I've observed over a lifetime of eating (and reading about eating). For instance: Why do people lose weight BOTH on "the rice diet" (very high carb, low protein, low fat) AND on low-carb diets? Answer: rice diet's blandness affects the lipostat set point in the brain, causing you to feel satiated with less. And low-carb diets reduce the insulin surge in your body, causing you to feel less hungry (and be less likely to store excess calories as fat).
There's also an interesting explanation of why we crave fatty, salty, sweet things--because we're hard-wired to do so, and for most of our evolutionary history we gorged on such things when we could get them, which was sporadically. As the author puts it: "We're hard-wired to turn energy (food) into kids". Of course this is obvious, but the author does a great job explaining how this works in real life.
I take issue with the reviewer below who said there's no practical information in the book. If you're looking for a one-size fits all "diet plan", then that's correct--there isn't one. But if you're looking for some basic principles and mechanisms that you can craft to create and optimize your own diet plan for health and weight loss--this is your book.
Top reviews from other countries
- The InquirerReviewed in Canada on January 22, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars More than obesity - it is about healthy living.
As a psychologist I appreciate the depth of Dr. Guyenet"s scholarship. But the breath is even more impressive. He masterfully outlines the effects of biology, evolution, ecology (environment) and psychology to explain why 2 out 3 North Americans are overweight . And what to do about that problem!!!
Topics covered include:
- Genetics
-Sleep.
-Uncontrollable daily hassles (consideider traffic jams or a boss who dumps work on you or emails you at midnight. In other words the stress of modern life.
-Exercise which is is more important that has often been noted.
Please note these are all interconnected.
The only one missing are the effects of the gut biome.
Warning: this is high density writing, so don't try to absorb I in big doses. I suggest reading the final chapter first because there are doable steps and the rest of the book will give you the details.
In the 1970s I weighed as high as 310. I applied psychological principles to lose weight over the next 30 years until I reached 210 which I have maintained for several years. I ishe I had this book as a guide back then, but most of the research has been done in the last 30 years. However it will guide me to the final 20 pounds of my journey.
- AnniReviewed in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars This is an excellent book.
This book will help you with your weight loss goals and weight management but only if you read it carefully, implement his strategies, and as Stephen says, personalise them so they are effective for you.
-
Guilherme TomishiyoReviewed in Brazil on February 20, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Empowering
Everyone trying to lose weight knows the drill. You need to eat less and exercise more. But yet doing just that does not work for the majority of us. How can that be?
Then we turn to the Oracle of our ages, the Internet, and ask for guidance. And we find out, annoyingly, that people claiming to know the right answer to our problem are Legion, and most of them provide inconsistent advices. You learn that pretty much any claim regarding nutrition, physical activity and weight loss will be contested by someone somewhere with a blog. You learn about countless diets, workouts and other lifestyle changes. You even learn that some people are skeptical about the mere possibility of persistant and significant weight loss. Yet you cannot see the big picture, because you lack something very important to see it: knowledge. You get a bunch of information and people telling you that there's a study somewhere supporting their claims. But you are not told, in a coherent and global way, how all of this advices adds up.
Fear not my child, for Stephan Guyenet book is an island of sound knowlege in the vast sea of information.
His book starts from the very beginning, establishing to you some very basic facts, for instance, that weight loss is really about a caloric deficit. That might seem obvious, but again you might get confused and uncertain if you start reading around the internet. But he does more than merely telling you that, he tells you how in world do we know that, writting about researchers and their experiments in their quest to test this idea. He also talks about the obesity epidemics, a major US problem but a problem that is starting to affect other affluents nations relentlessly.
The core part of the book is written to make you understand why it is so hard to simply follow the good advices of eating healthy food and doing physical exercise. In order to explain that, he gives you a fantastic ammount of knowledge from his field of expertise, neuroscience, and tells you about your reward system in the basal ganglia, how it is a very powerful and primitive part of your brain that responds to high density caloric content, fat, sugar and starch. He tells you of your economic choice evaluator, centered in your orbitofrontal cortex, and how things such as calorie density and convinience increases the odds that it will tell you that overeating is a good deal. He also tells you about the lipostat, a system centered in the hypotalamus that was discovered to regulate your lower bound adiposity with the help of leptin, a hormone secreted by fat tissue. He tells you what increases the set point addiposity of the lipostat and what may help you turn it down. Finally, he discusses other factors that are known to increase overeating, going in a substantial ammount of detail about the research done to figure it out. Disruption of your sleep cycle and stress control, to mention two examples.
The lesson is that your brain is hardwired by many primitive, nonconscious processes to value food which makes you fat. In the enviroment of our hunter-gathers ancestors, it was a useful tool to prevent starvation. Sadly, in the enviroment of our affluent nations, it is a liability that makes us fat and sick. So you are not lacking will power when you break your New Year's resolutions, you're losing a battle uphill against powerful nonconscious agents. To quote a quote in the book:
"Those who doubt the power of basic drives, however, might note that althought one can hold one's breath, this conscious act is soon overcome by the compulsion to breath. The feeling of hunger is intense and, if not as potent as the drive to breathe, is probably no less powerful than the drive to drink when one is thirsty. This is the feeling the obese must resist after they have lost a significant amount of weight."
Knowing this enables us to be more compassionate and mindful about people suffering with obesity.
Of course it would not be such a good book if it ended with such a fatalistic note, without providing any way out of this conundrum. The books gives you hints along the way about some things you can do to turn the tides in the favor of the rational, conscious part of your brain which understand the correlation of type 2 diabetes and weight gain. But it ends with a very nice big picture of how your brain works and providing many advices of how you can fight it.
As a person who suffers from overweight and in my personal battle to leaness, I find this book very empowering and enlightening. It is a good book for any scientifically oriented mind, and a fantastic book for any scientifically oriented mind that wants to lose weight.
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Cliente AmazonReviewed in Italy on March 30, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars Ottimo libro
Viene descritto in maniera completa ma non eccessivamente complessa la regolazione della fame-sazietà, dagli animali all'uomo preistorico fino ai giorni nostri. Una prospettiva che integra aspetti bio-psico-sociali del cibo, scritto da S. Guyenet un eccellente ricercatore americano autore e coautore di numerose pubblicazioni sulle neuroscienze
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thibaut desioReviewed in France on May 6, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent livre
Excellent ouvrage, un must read sur la gestion de la faim et des "pulsions" alimentaires. Très bien ecrit, sourcé.