Why do we get fat? Why do we overeat? Many people think it’s because of too many carbs, others claim it’s due to much fat. The answer is more complicated and it has implications that stretch far beyond diet.

We get fat in large part because modern industrialized foods are designed to hijack our reward systems and create addictive responses. So says our first podcast guest of the new EMP podcast season Dr. Stephan Guyenet.

Dr. Guyenet is the author of The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts that Make Us Overeat, and is in my opinion the foremost public expert on the neuroscience of overeating.

The food reward hypothesis that Stephan and I discuss in this episode has implications far beyond what to eat and how to manage your weight. It also helps us understand some of the main mechanisms behind the mismatch between our modern lives and our evolved nature.

If you understand how the food industry has hijacked our reward system for profit, you can begin to see how this basic principles applies to many aspects of modern life and is one of the many reasons we are suffering despite historically unmatched level of affluence.