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Chocoholics beware
Trying not to think about your favourite sweet treat could backfire, especially if you are a woman, according to research results
A study by the University of Hertfordshire found that those who tried to suppress thoughts of chocolate were more likely to eat it.
The paper, entitled Resistance can be futile investigating behavioural rebound, by Dr James Erskine was published in the journal Appetite.
Dr Erskine’s team asked 134 volunteers to either to talk about how much they enjoy chocolate or to suppress all thoughts of it. The participants were then asked to try two brands of chocolate and answer a questionnaire.
Although the participants believed their preferences were being recorded by the researchers, it was, in fact, the quantity they ate that was being monitored.
Women who had tried to suppress their cravings ate on average eight chocolates, while those who had talked freely about it ate five. However, the men who talked openly about chocolate ended up eating more of it.
"These findings open the door to a whole host of potential candidates for such effects," said Dr Erskine. "For example, does trying not to think about having another drink make it more likely, or does trying not to think, or to think aggressively lead to aggressive behaviour?
“These questions are vitally important if we are to understand the ways in which thought control engenders the very behaviour one wanted to avoid."
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