The Pleasure Trap by Douglas Lisle & Alan Goldhamer Mastering the Hidden Force that Undermines Health & Happiness Always being a "big picture" guy, I particularly like the way this book describes our history as humans and how we came to adopt the very unhealthy Standard American Diet (S.A.D.). You see, nature created us with certain urges described as our "decision triad" by the authors...we are basically programmed to "seek pleasure, avoid pain and conserve energy" in order to survive and reproduce. Our problem today is that our natural seeking of pleasure has backfired on us as we gorge ourselves with animal products and processed foods which were not intended by nature for consumption by our species. Our pre-historic ancestors survived on 100% fresh, natural, plant foods...and they sought pleasure in plants such as fruits, avocados and nuts that tasted good and filled them up. Today, many of us eat meat & cheese three meals a day and get most of our remaining calories from processed foods, many of which the food companies tell us is healthy. In a nutshell, this book explains in plain language how we got the way we are today and what we can do to break out of our "Pleasure Trap."  This is a very easy-to-read book that you will thoroughly enjoy....Jim Hicks John McDougall, M.D., writes the foreword for this book as follows...The Pleasure Trap has helped me solve the most challenging problem of my medical practice:  Why is it so difficult for people to adopt a healthful diet and lifestyle--despite the obvious and overwhelming benefits?  Since 1976, I have known how people can lose weight without ever being hungry, cure most cases of arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension; and reverse serious heart disease. Furthermore, for almost three decades it has been no mystery to me how one can prevent cancer, osteoporosis, heart attacks and strokes.  The common denominator for all of these medical problems is the modern Western diet--rife with foods so rich in high-calorie, refined ingredients that before industrialized times they were consumed only by kings and queens.  This diet must be replaced with one consisting of whole, natural plant foods.  Add to this seemingly simple step a little daily exercise, and you now have a medical tool more powerful than bypass surgery and drugs. The title of my first book, written in 1978, was Making the Change.  That title was a reflection of my clear understanding that the primary obstacles to healthy living are the challenges we must face when we make changes.  The Pleasure Trap helped me to understand these obstacles, and more importantly, I now know how to help my patients clear those hurdles. After reading this book, you will also have the knowledge to make long overdue improvements in your life.   The Pleasure Trap is about the nature of your own struggle for healthy living.  Get over the idea that you are emotionally or mentally defective with some sort of obsessive-compulsive eating disorder--that your hunger drive is your enemy.  There is no flaw in your basic human design. Unfortunately, this design evolved over millions of years to work with an environment where calories were hard to come by, and these calories only came as whole natural foods. One of the ways our ancestors managed to survive was to eat calorie-packed foods, so our bodies developed an innate preference for these foods.  The high-calorie choices our ancestors had access to were limited, perhaps an occasional helping of the fat of dead animals or the milk of goats.  Today the supermarket shelves are lined with over 60,000 items packed with sugar, salt, and fat; and high in calories.  How are we supposed to fight millions of years of evolutionary preference for foods concentrated in calories?  It doesn't happen easily.  As a result, many people suffer from poor health and obesity.  And, losing this fight with Mother Nature results not only in poor health, but also in low morale:  "I lack discipline and can never make progress."  Both health and happiness are undermined. Investing a few hours in The Pleasure Trap can be your defense against the temptations of modern life.  In this remarkable book, you will learn how to live in a world where your instincts can no longer be trusted.  You won't have to give up enjoyment of life, but instead will merely focus on pleasures that are not destructive.  You will see how to distinguish between health-supporting and health-destructive behaviors, and how to get pleasure out of those that are beneficial.  You will learn effective techniques for helping you stand up to unhealthy social pressures.  With this book as your guide, you can chart a new course in life.  You can look and feel your best, living life as it was meant to be lived. See the BOOKS section above for link to Dr. McDougall's website