The Hungry Brain
Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat
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Narrated by:
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Aaron Abano
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Written by:
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Stephan J. Guyenet Ph.D.
About this listen
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 listeners 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.
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What the critics say
"Guyenet wields his degrees in biochemistry and neuroscience while guiding readers through a wilderness of raw data; he explains how the brain works, discusses important research, and develops strategies from this information. His important new perspective on weight loss both informs and inspires." — Publishers Weekly
What listeners say about The Hungry Brain
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Chris Fudge
- 2022-11-13
Eye opener on why we eat
What an eye opening for how our brains and nutrition interact. A must read book.
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- Theodore
- 2022-12-23
Interesting but not very helpful
Interesting from a neuroscience perspective but doesn't provide much original, actionable information. The tips it gives are pretty straightforward and ones you've probably heard before if you've done any amount of research into diet. It is cool to gain more of an understanding about why these tips work, but it's not very helpful. The book also takes quite a deterministic approach , which can be a bit disheartening if you're trying to lose weight. It does do an excellent job of highlighting the underlying biological causes of the obesity epidemic and promotes being understanding and respectful to people who are obese, rather than simply judging them as lazy or uninformed, which I appreciate. I'd recommend it if you're into the neuroscience or obesity epidemic aspect and not so much into the weight loss aspect.
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- Kindle Customer
- 2020-04-02
Excellent
I am a fan of Stephen and his work
This book is such a great read for people that suffer with eating issues but also for nutrition and fitness coaches to help understand what drives our clients and anyone to overeat
Brilliant read
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- Amazon Customer
- 2021-07-14
This author knows his science!
The ideas presented in this book explain why it's harder than it looks to lose weight! A great book for those who have some biology background, and even those who don't. Highly recommend. I'm keeping this one in the library for sure!
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