Review: The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains by Dr. Robert Lustig

Synopsis: While researching the toxic and addictive properties of sugar for his New York Times bestseller Fat Chance, Robert Lustig made an alarming discovery—our pursuit of happiness is being subverted by a culture of addiction and depression from which we may never recover.         

Dopamine is the “reward” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we want more; yet every substance or behavior that releases dopamine in the extreme leads to addiction. Serotonin is the “contentment” neurotransmitter that tells our brains we don’t need any more; yet its deficiency leads to depression. Ideally, both are in optimal supply. Yet dopamine evolved to overwhelm serotonin—because our ancestors were more likely to survive if they were constantly motivated—with the result that constant desire can chemically destroy our ability to feel happiness, while sending us down the slippery slope to addiction. In the last forty years, government legislation and subsidies have promoted ever-available temptation (sugar, drugs, social media, porn) combined with constant stress (work, home, money, Internet), with the end result of an unprecedented epidemic of addiction, anxiety, depression, and chronic disease. And with the advent of neuromarketing, corporate America has successfully imprisoned us in an endless loop of desire and consumption from which there is no obvious escape.           

With his customary wit and incisiveness, Lustig not only reveals the science that drives these states of mind, he points his finger directly at the corporations that helped create this mess, and the government actors who facilitated it, and he offers solutions we can all use in the pursuit of happiness, even in the face of overwhelming opposition. Always fearless and provocative, Lustig marshals a call to action, with seminal implications for our health, our well-being, and our culture.

Review: I was eager to read this book after listening to Lustig’s lecture, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, given ad part of the Series: UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public, in 2009. I found his work intriguing and enlightening.

This book further explored the issue of sugar in our diet, but tied it to the larger issue – how corporations use our brain chemistry to modify our behaviors and entice us to buy their products. Lustig takes us through the two separate pathways in our brain – Dopamine (Pleasure) and Serotonin (Happiness), explaining how each is vital to our life, but can also be used to make us want things that aren’t good for us.

It’s a convoluted subject, making the narrative seem repetitive at time – but it’s required to explain the topic properly. The text has more pop-culture slang and jargon than one usually finds in science texts. It was a bit distracting, as if Lustig was trying to make it “down-to-earth”. But it didn’t.  Despite this, I have recommended this book to several people and will continue. It’s an important idea to consider! 

Note: I received this free as part of the Early Reviewers Program on LibaryThing, in exchange for my fair and honest opinion

Bookmarks: 4 of 5

Awards: None

ISBN: 978-1-101-98258-7
Year Published: September 2017
Date Finished: 7-31-2017
Pages:332