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TED Talk: “Why Dieting Doesn’t Usually Work” In the US, 80% of girls have been on a diet by the time they're 10 years old. In this honest, raw talk, neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt uses her personal story to frame an important lesson about how our brains manage our bodies, as she explores the science behind why dieting not only doesn't work, but is likely to do more harm than good. She suggests ideas for how to live a less diet-obsessed life, intuitively. http://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work? utm_source=directon.ted.com&utm_campaign=&awesm=on.ted.com_DietsDontWork&utm_content=awesmpublisher&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static Questions: 1. What is a set point? (relate this term back to feedback loops) A set point is the physiological value around which the normal range fluctuates. When a stimulus, or change in the environment, is present, feedback loops respond to keep systems functioning near a set point, or ideal level. Negative feedback loops, in conjunction with the various stimuli that can affect a variable, typically produce a condition in which the variable oscillates around the set point. As such, negative feedback is a mechanism that reverses a deviation from the set point. Therefore, negative feedback maintains body parameters within their normal range. For example, your brain also has its own sense of what you should weigh, no matter what you consciously believe (which is called set point). 2. What structure is in charge of this set point? The hypothalamus 3. Does successful dieting ever lower your set point? Successful dieting doesn't lower your set point. Even after you've kept the weight off for as long as seven years, your brain keeps trying to make you gain it back. 4. How have our diets (and approach to food) evolved since our ancestors? When food was scarce, our ancestors' survival depended on conserving energy, and regaining the weight when food was available would have protected them against the next shortage. That difference between our ancestral past and our abundant present, is that food used to be way less available. 5. Explain what Sandra means by hunger vs. will power and intuitive vs. controlled eaters. Psychologists classify eaters into two groups, those who rely on their hunger and those who try to control their eating through willpower, like most dieters. Let's call them intuitive eaters and controlled eaters. The interesting thing is that intuitive eaters are less likely to be overweight, and they spend less time thinking about food. Controlled eaters are more vulnerable to overeating in response to advertising, super-sizing, and the all-you-can-eat buffet.

6. What is your opinion about intuitive or mindful eating? I think intuitive eating encourages people to actively reject diet messaging and change their relationship with food and their body; whereas, mindful eating is being present in the eating experience in a nonjudgmental way. I think both are extremely important; however, intuitive eating is best in rejecting the dieting mentality and respecting your body, regardless of how you feel about its shape. Mindful eating learning to understand your body's signals so that you eat when you're hungry and stop when ones’ full. 7. What is your overall reaction to Sandra’s arguments? I really enjoyed Sandra’s approach to dieting, seeing that she provided substantial evidence to back up her points. In terms of her argument on hunger versus willpower, it was interesting to learn that girls who diet in their early teenage years are more prone to becoming overweight and having an eating disorder. Her use of ‘set point’ was beneficial in this argument on the grounds that set points can go up, but they rarely go down. Mindful eating was my biggest takeaway as I am one of those people who eats even when I am not hungry. Her process of mindfulness helped me to approach my own eating habits in a more positive, effective way....