When you lift that forkful of whole-wheat pasta to your mouth, do you think "tasty," or do you think "healthy"? To curb overeating, focus on the mouth appeal.
In a study, thinking about a food's delicious flavor rather than its nutritional or health-related benefits helped to curb hunger later in the day.
A Taste That Satisfies
Delectable, savory, juicy, crunchy, yummy ... all good words to have running through your mind when you munch on something healthy. That's exactly what people in a study did when they ate a chocolate-raspberry protein bar. And eating the bar with those kinds of thoughts in mind made the morsels much more satisfying than when the study participants thought of the treat as a fiber- and vitamin-packed health bar.
Thinking Is Believing
Although nothing could be further from the truth, many people mistakenly believe that healthy, low-cal foods simply can't satisfy hunger the way tasty foods can—and this type of thinking may help explain the study results.
Here are 10 more secrets to outwitting your appetite.
Medically reviewed in September 2019.
