I picked up Crave expecting a science book about cancer. What I got was a hard look at modern life. The argument is not that addiction is just about drugs or trauma. It is that craving itself has become part of everyday survival. Sugar, caffeine, social media, validation, even overwork. All of it.
The book makes the case that chronic craving overwhelms the systems that usually protect us. The immune system. Hormone regulation. Cellular repair. The more we chase the next hit of stimulation, the more we fall behind on long-term maintenance. Over time, this leaves the body vulnerable to disease. Cancer becomes more likely not because of one bad habit, but because of a lifestyle that never allows rest or repair.
One part that stuck with me was the idea that food, work, and even relationships are now shaped by the need to feel something all the time. We no longer eat to nourish, we eat to escape. We do not rest, we distract ourselves. We do not connect, we perform.
Another passage that hit hard was about inflammation. The author describes how constant low-level stress can quietly push the body into a pro-cancer state. Not in a dramatic way, but in a slow buildup of risk that we never notice.
This is not a book that gives you five steps to fix your life. It does not preach. It observes. It builds a case that the modern world itself is addictive, and that this addiction is making us sick in ways we do not see until it is too late.
If you have ever felt exhausted by your own habits but unsure why, or if you have wondered why cancer rates remain high despite all the medical progress, read Crave. It will not comfort you, but it might wake you up.
by bustedchalk