Diet: How to limit and control excess snacking?
updated the 14 July 2015 à 18:33Do you have an irresistible desire for chocolate or cheese, or both? Try the following tips provided by American researchers in the Obesity Society to resist the temptation of snacking.
How can we not succumb to the appeal of the hyper-calorific snacks before lunch, at snack time or after dinner? Here is the answer given by the researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York: Divert your attention for 30 seconds.
This seems too easy, but this technique is already widely used to fight some addictions (eg, alcohol, tobacco). In a study presented recently at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, doctors provide precise instructions for practising this method.
TAP YOUR FOREHEAD: THE TIPS TO AVOID SNACKING – THAT WORK
To learn the most effective distraction, the researchers recruited 55 adults who are seriously obese and showed them their favourite snacks. They asked them afterwards to divert their attention for 30 seconds, either by tapping their forehead with the index finger, or tapping their ear, or by beating a rhythm with their toes. After each exercise, the researchers noticed that the participants mastered their desires and had less difficulty resisting temptation. They also discovered that the best results were achieved by tapping the forehead with the index finger. Indeed, in obese people, the mechanisms for regulating appetite and satisfaction are disturbed, and compulsive eating is very difficult to overcome. If a few seconds of distraction works in these cases, it should be even more effective in those who don’t have serious weight problems.
Maureen Diament
