Recent Reads

January, 2014: Although Charles Duhigg doesn't give step-by-step how to's on kicking pesky habits in The Power of Habit, he does, in accessible everyday reader's language, explore the neurological aspects of how habits influence and affect our day-to-day actions. Have you ever considered how changing simply one habit may affect several areas of your life as well as the lives of those around you? This book will certainly make you give that serious thought. From incredible stories of how "keystone" habits have established change and caused failing companies to prosper, to tragedies about how families have lost loved ones and gone bankrupt because of excessive habits, this book will give readers insight into how the human brain loop plays the exclusive role in the way that we develop and overcome or establish habits that often govern our lives.

November 2013: I'm currently reading Salt Sugar Fat:  How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss.  Through research with food production and marketing professionals, Moss exploits the "hidden power of some processed foods to make people feel hungrier still" (xiv).  We've heard a lot in the news lately about how foods have addictive qualities, especially processed foods and the fast foods that many of us turn to when there's just not enough time to prepare a healthy meal.  I'm only a couple of chapters into the book, and it may take me a while to get through it since I should spend most of my time writing the dissertation right now, but I'm anxious to present it as a book club selection for students, faculty, and staff at the college. 

One more quote that I found interesting as I learned a couple of new terms used in the food marketing industry:  "the mouthfeel of soda and many other food items, especially those high in fat, is second only to the bliss point in its ability to predict how much craving a product will induce" (42).  Bliss point refers to the exact amount of sugar a product has tested to attract the most consumers - no more, no less.