David A Kessler

With controversial weight-loss drugs gaining public attention, Dr David A Kessler’s illumination of the body weight struggle comes at a good moment. The promise – and peril – of weight-loss drugs is writ large, but where do we go from here? We know that diets don’t work, and yet we also know that excess weight starves us of years and quality of life.

Kessler, in Diet, Drugs and Dopamine, gives us the tools to unplug the brain’s addictive wiring and change our relationship with food. He cautions that drugs, on their own, pose serious risks and are not a universal solution. But with the understanding they foster of the brain-body feedback loop comes new possibilities for our health and freedom from a lifelong struggle.

The former FDA (Food and Drug Administration) commissioner served under presidents Joe Biden, George HW Bush and Bill Clinton. His previous book is The End of Overeating.