Brian Wansink is an American professor in the fields of consumer behavior and nutritional science at Cornell University. He is a former Executive Director of the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) (2007–2009).
Wansink is best known for his work on consumer behavior and food and for popularizing terms such as “mindless eating” and “health halos.” His research has focused on how our immediate environment (supermarkets, packaging, homes, pantries, and tablescapes) influences eating habits and preferences.
Wansink holds the John S. Dyson Endowed Chair in the Applied Economics and Management Department at Cornell University. He is the author of over 100 academic articles and books, including the best-selling book Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think and Marketing Nutrition (2005) . He is a 2007 recipient of the humorous Ig Nobel Prize and was named ABC World News Person of the Week on January 4, 2008.
In this podcast interview I did with Dr. Wansink you will hear
- Why “knowing” the solution doesn’t automatically solve our over-eating problems
- How tweaking your environment can make eating more mindless with less willpower needed
- How staying within the “mindless margin” can make weight-loss easier
- How to arrange your food pantry for smarter food choices
- 5 situations when we overeat – why it’s critical to know your danger areas
- The problems of deprivation diets
- How you reduce calories without noticing it. And how much?
- Why stomachs are bad at math
- A strategy to solve the problem of the candy dish at work
- What comfort foods are? The answer may surprise you
- The differences between men and women with comfort foods
- Who is responsible for 72% of all foods eaten in the typical home
- Whether you really can control what your kids eat
- How food policies and trade offs can help us make better choices
- Top way to begin becoming a better mindless eater
- A new book Dr. Wansink is releasing March 2013
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