Always Hungry? Book Summary

Book Summary

15 min

Audio available

Brief Summary

Many Americans struggle with excess weight. However, simply restricting calories rarely leads to sustainable weight loss, because people end up feeling hungry and deprived, which causes overeating. Instead of focusing on calories, the Always Hungry Solution focuses on eating whole, nutritious foods, including lots of healthy fats, protein, vegetables, and fruit, and reducing processed carbohydrate intake. These diet changes, when accompanied by progress tracking, long term lifestyle changes, and mindfulness of the body’s needs, will lead to long-term weight loss and improved overall health and wellness.

About the Author

David Ludwig is an endocrinologist, researcher, and professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. He also serves as director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Ludwig focuses his research on the impact of diet, nutrition, hormones, and metabolism on body weight. He is also active in policy work that aims to improve national nutrition and prevent obesity.

He published his first book, Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World, in 2007. He is also a contributing writer for JAMA and has published over 150 scientific articles.

Dr. Ludwig and his wife live in Brookline, Massachusetts with their two children.

Topics

Health & Nutrition

Always Hungry? Book Summary Preview

Key Insights

Being overweight or obese is a real health issue that affects a large number of Americans. This is partly because the standard American diet is one that is high in carbohydrates, especially refined and processed carbohydrates, which cause weight gain. Many diets promote calorie restriction as the solution for weight loss, but most people struggle to stick to these restrictive diets and end up overeating.

Rather than simply restricting calories, the Always Hungry Solution offers a weight loss plan that focuses on eating a nutritious diet high in healthy fats. It is also accompanied by lifestyle changes and progress tracking, in order to identify habits and increase accountability.

In Phase 1 of the Always Hungry Solution, the dieter cuts out unhealthy foods in order to better control and understand their food cravings. In Phase 2, the dieter begins to reintroduce certain foods back into the diet, while paying attention to the body’s response and remaining mindful of craving triggers. In Phase 3, participants personalize their diets, gradually reintroducing foods to an individual eating plan that is sustainable and provides the opportunity for long term weight loss success.

Why People Gain Weight

Weight gain is not always as simple as eating less and moving more. The nutritional quality of the food that people consume plays an important role. The body needs certain nutrients to function, and a calorie restricted diet that doesn’t provide these nutrients will not be successful. Instead, people should focus on consuming food high in essential nutrients, like lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, and plant fiber, and staying away from processed carbohydrates.

High-carbohydrate foods, especially processed carbohydrates, disrupt the body’s insulin production and lead to weight gain. People crave carbohydrates because they generate glucose in the body, which creates a rush of short-term energy. However, it also causes a spike in insulin levels, as the body rushes to absorb the excess sugar in the blood. After the spike, the body interprets the low blood sugar levels as a sign that the body needs more energy. This causes more hunger cravings and can slow metabolism, which leads to weight gain.

Stress is also a major contributor to weight gain. Research from the Institute of Psychology at Liverpool University has shown that overweight people sometimes eat more because of the stress of being overweight and the stigma attached to living in an overweight body. This stress can trigger overeating in already overweight people.

Obesity can lead to significant health problems over time, including chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and even Type II Diabetes.

External Factors Also Contribute to Obesity

The federal government has contributed to the rising consumption of unhealthy food in America. Official government dietary recommendations, like the Food Pyramid Guide and Dietary Guidelines, promoted the consumption of simple carbohydrates over protein, healthy fats, and fruits and vegetables. The Food Pyramid represents the recommended daily nutrition intake for the average American. For years, the largest block at the bottom of the pyramid was carbohydrates, while fats were at the top of the pyramid. The accepted American diet...