Social Workout

Excerpts

Highly Palatable

Many of us have what's called a "bliss point", at which we get the greatest pleasure from sugar, fat or salt. Combined in the right way, they make a product indulgent, high in "hedonic value." During the past two decades, there has been an explosion in our ability to access and afford what scientists call highly "palatable" foods.

~ From The End of Overeating, by David Kessler (Via the guardian and msh258).

Run Away

For Whom the Toll House Doughs

You pad to the refrigerator late at night wearing a sweaty nightshirt hoping to sneak just a smidge of your favorite naughty snack— raw, prepackaged chocolate-chip cookie dough, oh so hyperpalatable, reminds you oh-so-much of your youth. Dude, step away from the fridge. A mega batch of Toll House cookie dough tested positive in June for E.coli, and Nestlé USA has recalled about 300,000 cases of the stuff. (BUT MAYBE YOUR TUBE WAS THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY!) Fact: The CDC is checking out whether the dough is behind 69  reports across the nation of ugly E.coli poisoning. Whatevs, you say? Fear mongering fitness blog panders to hysterical mass market food panic? Fair enough, but THAT TUBE OF NESTLE COULD TAKE OUT YOUR KIDNEYS, KIDDO! All we're saying is how about the carrots in the back of the fridge? Well rinsed, cut into sticks? Equally nostalgic, better for you....

Reading List

Ex Fed Doc Goes Scientific on Junk Food Lust

Term of the day: "Hyperpalatable." Think airport Cinnabon, microwave popcorn or other impossible to ignore food that is scientifically engineered to "go down easy" and to take you to your "bliss point."  Credit the term to Dr. David A. Kessler, longtime head of the FDA, who's new book The End of Overeating is currently 18 on the relevant New York Times Bestseller list. "When it comes to stimulating our brains," Dr. Kessler writes, "individual ingredients aren’t particularly potent. But by combining fats, sugar and salt in innumerable ways, food makers have essentially tapped into the brain’s reward system, creating a feedback loop that stimulates our desire to eat and leaves us wanting more and more even when we’re full." Sounds promising: Crusading Fed doctor with chocolate chip cookie fetish explains the impressive science behind Taco Bell. Tara Parker-Pope has a nice, long review at The Well. Here's the plan: See Food, Inc., read Kessler, then join your local veggie food coop.