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...following pages will make it clear that there's plenty of reason for hope. Researchers are hard at work trying to understand the basic biochemistry of hunger and fat metabolism; policymakers are pushing for better labels and nutritional information; school boards are giving their cafeteria menus a closer look and reconsidering vending-machine contracts with makers of sugary soft drinks; urban planners are rethinking our cities and towns to get us out of the car and onto our feet; Americans in record numbers are putting themselves on low-carb and low-calorie diets; and more and more foodmakers are beginning...
Unless you make a determined effort, you'll probably choose the path of least resistance. Evolving during a time of scarcity, humans developed an instinctive desire for basic tastes--sweet, fat, salt--that they could never fully satisfy. As a result, says Rutgers University anthropologist Lionel Tiger, "we don't have a cut-off mechanism for eating. Our bodies tell us, 'Fat is good to eat but hard to get.'" The second half of that equation is no longer true, but the first remains a powerful drive...
...mirror, remember that nature has stacked the deck against weight loss. Trimming 25 lbs. from your figure may not be that difficult. But try shedding 100 lbs., and your body is going to scream. Whether willpower, exercise, drugs or even surgery is enough to quiet the body's basic need for fat is still an open question...
Except when an eating disorder has hijacked the process. Anorexics and bulimics are more successful at losing weight than people on diets because they have managed to throw this basic drive to eat into reverse. Through sheer force of will, anorexics convince their body that it doesn't need food. "Anorexics are able to do things that are clearly beyond what a normal person is capable of doing," says Kaplan. "Theirs is extreme behavior often driven by an inappropriate and distorted body image...
GAVIN: I am taking the cheap seats. In other words, I am sitting on the sideline because I don't want to fund basic research. I think that is where it is right now, even in the medical area, which may be one of the earlier applications...