Always Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently by David Ludwig
David Ludwig is an endocrinologist and researcher at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital, and this book came out in 2016. His main argument is that overeating isn't simply a lack of willpower. He says that diets high in refined carbohydrates and sugar push insulin up, which encourages the body to store energy in fat cells, and that leaves the rest of the body feeling short of fuel. The result, in his view, is that we feel hungry and crave more food even when we've eaten plenty.
The second half is a three-phase eating plan with recipes and meal plans, built around whole foods, more healthy fats, and fewer processed carbohydrates. He also gives time to sleep, stress and gentle movement, which I was glad to see. His theory, often called the carbohydrate-insulin model, is still debated among obesity researchers, and the eating plan is mainly based on a pilot study with his own patients, so I'd read it with that in mind. The title promises a lot, and I'd take the weight-loss claims with a grain of salt.
How it connects to my work:
I work with people who struggle with binge eating and cravings, and many of them have spent years blaming themselves. What I find useful in this book is that it takes hunger seriously as a body signal rather than a character flaw. Cravings often get mixed up with stress, tiredness and emotional hunger, and when we're stressed and running on empty, it's much harder to make calm choices about food. Hypnotherapy can help with the stress and the automatic habits around eating. If you have a history of disordered eating, please talk to your GP or a dietitian before starting any structured eating plan, including this one.
Why you might enjoy it:
If you're curious about why cravings can feel so strong, and you'd like to understand the science behind hunger in plain language, there's a lot to think about here.
Have you read it? I'd like to hear what you made of it in the comments.
Want to read more?
A dietitian's review at Nutrition Over Easy
Vox on the debate behind the science
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