ix Introduction There is no sincerer love than the love of food . George Bernard Shaw Question : Why is it that over 80 % of people who lose weight eventually regain what they lose and often more ? Answer : Because dieting is not about what we eat , it is about why we eat ! Diets typically fail to recognize that food is the world ’ s most addictive substance ! Craving for food is much more powerful than craving for nicotine , alcohol and other substances . George Bernard Shaw put it somewhat differently : Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating , very few survive . But unlike every other addictive substance food is critically different in one way – it is a human need . We must have it to survive . Alcohol , nicotine and other substances of addiction can be hard enough to give up or manage – and they are nowhere near as important to us as food is ! Is it really any wonder that dieting has such a high failure rate ? As smokers in the western world have given up over the last couple of decades , overeating has really taken off ! When we accept that food is a highly addictive substance and start to tackle it from this perspective , we begin to take control of it . Ignore its habit-forming potential and we are powerless to control it . Very few weight-loss programs fully appreciate the addictive quality of food and even fewer deal with it – primarily because they simply don ’ t know how to . Very few diet program planners are qualified in both human psychology and human physiology . It is deadly simple and much easier to tell people what they should eat with the latest and greatest diet .