Pretending to Eat Chocolate? That’s Crazy Talk!
July 31, 2015
BBC News brought up an intriguing question this week with an article that focused on a two-step experiment to test chocolate cravings.
The psychology behind chocolate cravings is an increasingly popular topic amongst researchers.
Not many people are immune, even John Lennon craved chocolate!
Trust us – we’ve seen a lot already about how to curb your chocolate cravings (not that we encourage such ideas) but this new experiment blew our minds.
You can read the full article, “The Big Craving-Beating Experiment” on BBC.com.
Why Do We Crave Chocolate, Anyhow?
First, let’s address why we crave chocolate.
Here is an explanation from Dr. Amy Jo Stavnezer, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Wooster College in Ohio:
“The experience of eating chocolate releases dopamine in particular brain regions. That same dopamine is released during sex, laughter and other activities that are enjoyable. Moreover, the frontal lobe creates a memory of this experience, so whenever people think of chocolate, the brain craves for that same experience again.”
The Experiment
Associate Professor Carey Morewedge of Boston University theorized that people who imagined eating chocolate would be better able to control their cravings, and lessen the amount of chocolate they consumed.
Over 200 participants took part in this experiment, and were first divided into two groups.
The first group’s task was to imagine eating 30 chocolates, one at a time, slowly chewing each imaginary piece one-by-one.
The second group had to do the same, but only imagine eating three pieces.
Once finished, the groups were asked to fill out complicated forms, and the amount of chocolate actually consumed by each group during this time was noted. The first group ate 37% less than group two.
To study the effects of this mental exercise while participants were at home, each group took home a bag of chocolate. They were asked to repeat the experiment each time they had a craving. And, turns out, people in the first group still ate on average less than the others.
Reactions
My mouth was watering the whole time I read about this experiment the other day. Although I did not take the time to imagine eating 30 pieces of chocolate, I did try imagining to eat 3.
But, my experiment backfired.
Within the hour, I was at Target adding a Snickers bar to my cart.
I’ve heard of taking a brief walk to cut chocolate cravings while at work, but imagining to eat 30 pieces of chocolate?! It’s hard to even imagine imagining it!
Honestly, I think I’d be so exhausted from imagining to eat 30 pieces of chocolate that I’d have no more energy to actually control my cravings.
As the saying goes, “ain’t nobody got time for that!”
What do you think about this approach?
We’d love to hear your reactions (comment below, or post on our Facebook page).
Photo: "Imagination" by Eric E Castro is licensed under CC BY 2.0 / cropped from original
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