Got a Craving? Forget Moderation

Just a tiny taste of a treat and you'll be able to put the craving out of your head for good, right?

Nope. Leave the ice cream carton in the freezer. Put the bag of mini chocolates down. Don't even look at them. In a study, just one taste of a treat triggered more indulgences a mere 25 minutes later.

Appealing Picks
Once people had a taste of an indulgence -- such as a chocolate truffle -- it awakened a need for more goodies. And things snowballed. They started craving things like ice cream, pizza, and potato chips. And only once the urge to indulge had been satisfied did the study participants focus once again on healthy foods like carrots, whole-wheat bread, low-fat yogurt, and pears. Here's how to crush a chocolate craving fast.

For Raging Cravings . . .
Everyone craves comfort foods now and then. Just don't act on those urges every time. Try these strategies for nipping a case of the munchies in the bud:

• Eat an egg breakfast. Not only are eggs a good protein source, but they may help you pass up junk food later in the day, too. Find out how long the egg-breakfast effect works.
• Eat your three squares. When you skip meals, your taste buds will have a yen for the sweet and salty. Here's how meal-skipping affects your taste buds.
• Grab a bit of whole-wheat bread and olive oil. The fats in olive oil turn off your hunger. Here's how it works.

And if you just have to indulge, do it early in the day instead of later. Here's why.

Behavioral consistency and inconsistency in the resolution of goal conflict. Laran, J., Janiszewski, C., Journal of Consumer Research April 2009;35(6):967-984.