Quotes from Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss

So I am still reading Salt Sugar Fat and all I can say is WOW--almost done.  The book is in 3 Parts, Sugar, Salt, Fat with a Prologue and an Epilogue.  Anyway, I just bookmarked a page as I went along of thought provoking and downright jaw-dropping information. So I read books on my Kindle and it's kind of hard to tell you the exact page number for the book but I have a tip.  If you cut and paste some of the words that you see and want to read more on into the Amazon "Look Inside" of this book (link provided above), it will give you the page number.  I have located the Hardcover page numbers--some are guess-timations, may be the page before or after, sorry. 

Sugar
"...a second critic who posed a much bigger threat to the cereal industry---took up the cause.  His name was Jean Mayer, a Harvard professor of nutrition...was hugely influential in matters of diet, starting with poverty and hunger...which led to the introduction of food stamps and expanded school lunch programs...endeared him to the food industry...But what made Mayer an industry threat was his pioneering research on obesity, which he called a "disease of civilization." He is credited with discovering how the desire to eat is controlled by the amount of glucose in the blood and by the brain's hypothalamus, both of which in turn are greatly influenced by sugar." (p.74)

Fat
"As I spoke with scientists about the way fat behaves, I couldn't resist drawing an analogy to the realm of narcotics.  If sugar is the methamphetamine of processed food ingredients, with its high-speed, blunt assault on our brains, then fat is the opiate, a smooth operator whose effects are less obvious but no less powerful."(~p.148)

"The brain was identifying fat with incredible speed.  In his quest to learn more, Le Coutre rounded up fifty of his colleagues in industry and academia and asked him to help produce an "all known facts" compendium on fat.  Published in 2010 with 609 pages, the resulting book, Fat Detection: Taste, Texture, and Post Ingestive Effects, serves as a roadmap for companies looking to harness the power of fate in their food and drink.  "Why is fat so tasty?" Le Coutre asks in the introduction. "Why do we crave it, and what is the impact of dietary fat on health and disease?"(~p.155)

"...in versions where the fat had been tucked away, they sharply underestimated the levels of both.  Next, they dined on the foods, having been told to eat as much as they wanted.  The visible fat group got fuller faster, while the other group, downing the hidden-fat recipes, remained hungry and kept eating.  In a key---but commonly overlooked---aspect of obesity, weight gain can be caused by the slightest increases in consumption, if it continues day in and day out...The participants in the Dutch study hit the mark exactly.  When they couldn't see the fat in their foods, they ate nearly 10 percent more or about 100 extra calories." (~p.181)

Salt
"(Jeffrey C.) Bible helped kick things off with a speech that was part war stories, part pep talk.  He focused on the one thing that every one of the food managers needed to do if their products were to continue to dominate the processed food world..."The simple beauty of the Kraft General Foods challenge is that everybody eats," Bible told them. "This is part of the new job I'm especially enjoying: The potential is at once limitless and incredibly daunting..."(p.196)

"The blood gets especially besieged when processed food is ingested, flooding the system with its heavy loads of salt, sugar, and fat.  But where the links between eating and drugs gets really interesting is in the brain.  There, narcotics and food---especially food that is high in salt, sugar, and fat---act much alike.  Once ingested, they race along the same pathways, using the same neurological circuitry to reach the brain's pleasure zones, those areas that reward us with enjoyable feelings for doing the right thing by our bodies.  Or, as the case may be, for doing what the brain has been led to believe is the right thing."(~p.276)

""We offer a full portfolio of salt alternative to meet your needs, while still delivering the same great salty taste your customer's crave." As for the higher cost of potassium chloride (a salt alternative), Cargill notes that this and other costs associated with creating healthier foods can be passed on to the consumer..."(p.294)

A Quote

Right now I am reading Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss.  So this Pulitzer Prize winning author has researched extensively the food industry and how they got us to this"bliss point" addictive state.  The inventor of the "bliss point" which by the way is the "lethal" combination of salt, sugar, fat (one, some or all of them, think Cheetos!!) is a researcher by the name of Howard Moskowitz.  During one of their conversations they talked about the obesity crisis and and the author writes this from the conversation: "There's no moral issue for me," he said flatly.  "I did the best science I could. I was struggling to survive and didn't have the luxury of being a moral creature..."
On the one hand, at least he is honest about his lack of moral character; but on the other hand, WOWZA.  He just didn't give a sh*t!!  And by the him using the words moral issue and moral creature, I feel that he knew at the time he would be making people fat.  Yes, we all have choices not to eat certain things-but who knew at the time---well, not many people.  Anyway, I stumbled across this quote and just wanted to share it.

A Quote

"You are not going to be defined by your failures."  Kurt Warner, "The Moment" Episode 1.  When I heard this I wrote it down and thought that this isn't an obvious weight loss or maintenance quote; but it speaks to success and positive thinking. 

Quote from last night's Biggest Loser

I jotted this down and I am pretty sure it was the contestant Jackson who said it, "Weight loss is mental. You have to want it more than you want a cupcake!!"  The exclamation points are mine.  I would say insert any word here that would apply.  To me this quote resonated on so many levels---I am sure he meant this in its most literal sense; but it seemed almost metaphoric for a lot of things in life but especially weight loss and maintenance.  We have all tried many times to lose weight and then there is this time (presently) whereas everything is clicking and makes sense.  I have realized for me that it was a lot of mental and spiritual work.  The mental for me was more so getting out of my own head---developing a sense of self, self-esteem.  I had zero self-esteem my whole life--I didn't love myself, I never liked the way I looked--I could go on and on.  My development of self took years--I think I owned a self-help section of a bookstore.  I still feel that I am a work in progress but I have a much higher sense of self.  What's so interesting about the quote is that I heard the "mental" part over 15 years or more ago from Oprah, yes, Oprah said that "Weight loss is very mental."  Or something like this, but I definitely remember the mental part and just being confused.  I thought that weight loss was eating less and exercising and then, presto!!!  As I struggled to keep the weight off, I started thinking about the spiritual which helped the mental.  Did anyone else hear this quote or have ever heard something like this?  Let me know.

Words that affect us...in a good way!!

Watching the Biggest  Loser last night, Bob Harper said something that really resonated with me—it was when he went with David to see Dr. H to find out what was going on with his knee.   He said, “…when are you going to be enough, we’ve got to get to a point in your life that you say –you know what, I’m just as good and my feelings are just as valid as important as everyone else’s…”

Then Bob to the camera:

"David not being open about his feelings---it really upsets me, because it’s just a symptom for a bigger issue.  He’s doing an amazing job working through his physical issues; but if he doesn’t work through his emotional issues no amount of weight loss is going to matter because he’s either going to gain it all back or it’s going to manifest in some other part of his life!!!"

I have heard these words before and they have affected me in a negative way, but hearing them at that moment really resonated with me.  Some of us have more emotional issues than others and I think that's why some people lose weight and keep it off right away and some of us (insert me here)--we have several emotional issues to peel through because---I always just assumed it was about the weight but it was much more, for me anyway.  

My favorite quotes from Weight of the Nation

I absolutely love Forks Over Knives and Weight of the Nation;  they are both free on Amazon Instant Video.  I watch them all time.  It helps me keep my priorities in perspective.

"...You never know which attempt will allow you to achieve long term success."  This is at the end of Episode 2, "Choices."    This is so true, this is me, I think I am on attempt #21 or #22.

"The Science of Obesity has exploded in the last 15 years..."  I had never heard the word obesity until 1983.  It was basically a clinical term; now this is an everyday term used.

"A lot of people are able to keep off the weight with behavioral changes."  I like this quote because again these words help me keep my priorities in perspective.  

These are all from Episode 2, "Choices" also.
 If you have time this weekend,  watch one or all of the parts.