Want to Eat Less? Imagine Eating More

Imagine you could eat less, simply by thinking about eating! A new study published in Science finds just that: people who imagined themselves repeatedly indulging in sweet or salty treats ended up eating less of the actual foods than people who didn't visualize eating the same foods or thought about them only fleetingly.

The study is based on the principle of habituation — that repeated exposure to a stimulus reduces people's response to it. It explains why the 10th bite of pumpkin pie isn't as desirable as the first. And why chronic alcoholics need more alcohol to feel drunk. "People habituate to a wide range of stimuli, from the brightness of a light to their income," the study's authors write. (More on Time.com: 5 Ways to Get Oatmeal in Your Diet, Deliciously)

What the authors wondered, however, is why, when it comes to food, does the imagination usually have the opposite effect — the mere notion of a piece of pie tends to whet the appetite, rather than suppressing it. "If you look at the literature on imagination and eating, thinking about [a specific food] leads people to desire it more," says lead author Carey Morewedge, assistant professor of social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. "But when you eat a lot of a food, you desire it less. What's the difference between these two experiences?" (MORE)

Source: Time Healthland



Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/12/09/the-imagination-diet-visualizing-eating-helps-cut-real-life-consumption/#ixzz17ytDQBMW