SubscribeFood Cravings: Suppress Them and You'll Eat More
It seems counter-intuitive - but when you try to deny a food you crave - you probably end up eating more of it.
Research of 134 students at Hertfordshire University (UK) has shown how those who tried to avoid chocolate ended up eating a whole lot more of it.
The participants were asked to "either suppress all thoughts about chocolate, or talk about how much they liked it." After this they were told to choose between two brands of chocolates.
Women who had tried to suppress their cravings ate on average eight chocolates, while those who had talked freely about it ate five.Men did not show the same effect, with the group told to talk about the snack eating more. (from BBC | Abstract)
So women who were trying desperately hard not to think about chocolate ended up consuming almost twice as much!
There is a lesson here.
Don't try to eliminate the foods you crave. Instead learn to include them in your diet in appropriate portions. Eat them mindfully and with pleasure - rather than guilt.
Take that so-called "bad" food, chop it in half (or whatever) - and go ahead and enjoy it. Provided your overall diet and lifestyle (physical activity) are good - you're probably doing yourself a favor (in the sanity department).
Note that for those who have serious issues with binge-eating - certain trigger foods are better off not being in the house. See more about this.
I also read (can't remember the study name, but it was noted in Bicycling magazine) that if you are trying to not think about one thing and exercise will power-- you're more likely to overindulge in other areas. (ie, more likely to spend more money shopping if you are trying to avoid chocolate)
ReplyInteresting.
no matter what, once i start with chocolate, i keep going. i've found that chocolate with higher cocoa percentage seems to be more fulfilling, whereas with milk chocolate, i could go on forever!!
ReplyThis is interesting...it's kind of like thought suppression. If you tell someone not to think of a pink elephant, and then ask them if they thought about the pink elephant, the always say yes, because you end up spending lots of time trying not suppress the thought, which inevitably means the thought goes through your head (hopefully that makes sense). I find the more I think about food, the more eat in general, so I can see how this would happen. The key for me is to keep busy and have other things to occupy my mind!
ReplyThis has been part of pathway to health. I've been greatly influenced by the Intuitive Eating model and followed their recommendation to stop placing moral judgments on food and to allow myself to eat whatever I want.
Along with that I have been practicing mindful awareness of how the foods I crave taste and how they make me feel both while eating and afterwards.
Through that, I found that many of the things I crave actually don't taste that good or that they leave me feeling sick afterwards. Over time, with awareness, my cravings have really diminished.
However, on the odd occasion that I do have a craving, I give in to it, whatever it might be.
More often than not, I find myself now craving sushi or Greek yogurt or pistachios, rather than soda and candy bars and potato chips.
ReplySelf control?
ReplyChocolate cravings do appear to be different than other food cravings.
Perhaps a small portion of 85% cocoa chocolate would do the trick.
ReplyIt makes sense to me. If I keep away from things I love I'm begging for a binge.
ReplyThis is so true as when I eat less when I am hungry it comes back at me three times harder. Neglecting food when hungry is one of the hardest things but there is a solution. Eat something small and healthy. By doing this you curve your appetite and keep your metabolism going. Eating small is the key.
ReplyWhen I was living with my parents, my mom would buy these Skinny Cow "diet" ice cream sandwich things. They were pretty good, I guess, but she would have to eat 2 or 3 of them a night to get her "fix" of ice cream. I used to buy fat free ice cream and would eat it by the 1/2 gallon, but it never really seemed to satisfy my cravings. What DID work was to buy ice cream sandwiches (not the diet ones) and eat one of those. It satisfied my cravings and had built in portion control.
ReplyI hear you about the chocolate....thats my biggest downfall. But its much easier to just have one piece of dark chocolate, like 85% or higher, than milk chocolate.
I also allow myself one day that I can eat that food that I have been craving all week, because if I don't, I will eat anything and everything else! Better just to give in to that craving and move on...
Reply85% chocolate is digusting to someone like me who has an aversion to bitter tastes.
Chocolate cravings can also be sugar cravings.
If it is a simple "I want chocolate" craving I don't give in. If it is a I WANNNNNNNNTT CHOCOLATE Now now now!!!!" It is best just to have some otherwise I am known to have 3 later in the day.
ReplySounds like a no-brainer. I'm "dieting" but if I want a piece of chocolate or a handful of chips, nothing's going to get rid of that feeling until I actually have a square of Jersey Milk or a few potato chips. I find that if I ignore (or try to) a craving, I'll end up bingeing in the end; better to nip it in the bud when it's easier to satisfy.
ReplyI have found a website that has helped me stop bingeing. It is DigitalDietIncentives.com. They have products I ordered like a dinner plate with my face photoshopped onto a fit body with a caption"One meal closer to looking like this." Seeing it helps me load smaller portions and not have seconds. I also have a refrigerator magnet with that photo and similar caption to stave off the chocolate ice cream craving.
ReplyI believe in eating what you want. Who knows, your body may be craving sugar for a reason. Plus, when I try to eat something else, I end up coming back and eating what I wanted in the first place, too. Having "good" foods and "bad" foods can sabatoge a person. For instance, when you eat a "bad" food, you feel that you have blown it and then you eat 1000 more calories because you have already blown it.
ReplyOh! I read that the hypothalmus controls food and sex cravings. So sometimes when people are stressed and crave food they are really craving something else, if you know what I mean...(wink, wink)
ReplyI think this is true for sure. I know when I deny myself certain foods for certain period of time, the next time I "allow" myself to have them I completely binge. Having those foods in much smaller portions but more frequently seems a much better way to go.
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