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The difficulty is that all those food labels are expressed in grams, and not one person in a hundred has the foggiest idea of what a gram actually is.

Of all living things that inhabit the earth, humans are the only species that lacks the ability to control appetite.

Deep inside the brain, within a tiny area of the hypothalamus, is a gland that secretes neuropeptide Y. It is this chemical that stimulates appetite and controls our weight. If only we could get at it and turn it on or off like an electric light bulb, we would be able to resist temptation and fit into those day-glow spandex garments sported by models who eat only slim-line carrots.

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Don't think for a moment that researchers are not trying to discover ways to manipulate this little gland, this naughty neurotransmitter that forces us to eat a carton of ice cream when what we really wanted was a tofu sandwich. So far, success has been limited. Physiology and biochemistry are only two of the many factors that influence our appetite. Play loud music and we eat faster. When we sit in a brightly lit restaurant we eat more.

We eat more in the company of friends, less in the presence of strangers, and almost nothing at all when falling under the spell of a new love. We eat more when we eat with our hands. The more formal the occasion, the fewer clothes women wear -- and the less they eat. Maybe the lesson to be derived from all this is to dress in our best, eat alone in a darkened room, use a knife and fork, and remember that the saints are marching thin.