07/03/2017
Pediatric endocrinologist Lustig (The Fat Chance Cookbook, with Heather Millar) makes his unoriginal thesis very clear up front: Americans are miserable and suffer from addiction, depression, and illness because American culture, corporations, and pop psychology promote dopamine-based pleasure and reward over serotonin-mediated contentment and happiness. The result is a “death spiral” for physical and psychological health. Lustig’s strongest tool in making this argument is his ability to lucidly explain neuroscience, specifically regarding the neural pathways developed by pleasure-seeking behaviors and cortisol-driving chronic stress. He also reiterates ideas from his previous books, which share an obsession with a generalized “metabolic syndrome” as the core American affliction and sugar as the most obviously guilty culprit. Though his tone remains authoritative, Lustig’s reach here exceeds his expertise as he also points his finger at antagonists as varied as social media, Big Pharma’s and Big Food’s marketing strategies, and the federal government’s administration of Social Security. His “four Cs” solution—connect, contribute, cope, and cook—urges a return to a slowed-down style of life from before the rise of fast food and the internet. Lustig aims at big thinking but his exposé is mostly unshocking, his ideas rehashed rather than cutting-edge, and his advice curmudgeonly, albeit also humanistic and sensible. (Sept.)
"Explores how industry has manipulated our most deep-seated survival instincts."-David Perlmutter, MD, Author, #1 New York Times bestseller,*Grain Brain*and*Brain Maker
The New York Times-bestselling author of Fat Chance reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic disease.
*
While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery-our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.
***********
Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction. Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don't need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression. Ideally, both are in optimal supply. Yet dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin-because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated-with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction. In the last forty years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (sugar, drugs, social media, porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, Internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. And with the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape.
***********
With his customary wit and incisiveness, Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that helped create this mess, and the government actors who facilitated it, and he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Always fearless and provocative, Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture.
1126188568
The New York Times-bestselling author of Fat Chance reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic disease.
*
While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery-our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.
***********
Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction. Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don't need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression. Ideally, both are in optimal supply. Yet dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin-because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated-with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction. In the last forty years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (sugar, drugs, social media, porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, Internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. And with the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape.
***********
With his customary wit and incisiveness, Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that helped create this mess, and the government actors who facilitated it, and he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Always fearless and provocative, Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture.
The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains
"Explores how industry has manipulated our most deep-seated survival instincts."-David Perlmutter, MD, Author, #1 New York Times bestseller,*Grain Brain*and*Brain Maker
The New York Times-bestselling author of Fat Chance reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic disease.
*
While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery-our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.
***********
Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction. Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don't need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression. Ideally, both are in optimal supply. Yet dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin-because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated-with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction. In the last forty years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (sugar, drugs, social media, porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, Internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. And with the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape.
***********
With his customary wit and incisiveness, Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that helped create this mess, and the government actors who facilitated it, and he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Always fearless and provocative, Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture.
The New York Times-bestselling author of Fat Chance reveals the corporate scheme to sell pleasure, driving the international epidemic of addiction, depression, and chronic disease.
*
While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery-our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.
***********
Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction. Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don't need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression. Ideally, both are in optimal supply. Yet dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin-because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated-with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction. In the last forty years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (sugar, drugs, social media, porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, Internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. And with the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape.
***********
With his customary wit and incisiveness, Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that helped create this mess, and the government actors who facilitated it, and he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Always fearless and provocative, Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture.
20.0
In Stock
5
1
The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains
The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains
FREE
with a B&N Audiobooks Subscription
Or Pay
$20.00
20.0
In Stock
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169123531 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 09/12/2017 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Videos
From the B&N Reads Blog