Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Moss describes how food companies manufacture cheap processed products designed to get us “hooked” and keep us coming back for more. Foods that are highly processed and sweetened are the most addictive.
Clinical Psychologist Julia Rucklidge discusses the role of nutrition in treating and preventing mental health disorders. Author Michael Moss talks about how food is being designed to keep us wanting more.
Food addiction is a scary prospect if your free will is being exploited, how can you even begin to help yourself? So
GQ asked Moss what we could do, and he went deep: on the long connection between Big Food and Big Tobacco, the shady origins of nutrition facts, and how understanding the marketing tricks
might help you make healthier choices.
GQ:
Michael Moss: In my last book,
Salt Sugar Fat, I tried to end on this hopeful note: that ultimately it s up to us to decide what to eat and how much. Then almost immediately, a reporter got in my face with the question, Michael, how can you say this? Isn t this stuff you re writing about addictive like drugs? And I m back-pedaling, hemming and hawing, because I tried to avoid the “A” word, not just because the industry hates that word more than anything, but because it seemed too harsh for food. It really threw me. Can these foods in fact be thought of as being not just a very, very bad habit, but addictive in the ways that othe
As an entree to Michael Moss’s excellent new book, try this experiment. Imagine or place two bowls in front of you: One with potato chips; the other with whole walnuts. Make sure they are both good quality brands and fresh from a never-opened bag. Sample a walnut first. Enjoy how its initial slightly bitter crunch transforms into something soft, buttery, faintly woodsy. Next munch a potato chip. Its flavour is less complex than the walnut’s, but every chip instantly delivers an intense combination of salt, sugar and fat. They are so crispy you can hear them snap between your teeth, and then they miraculously dissolve into nothingness on your tongue, making you want another. And another. And another.
Book Review: Hooked, by Michael Moss - The New York Times nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.