Leading article: Trick or treat?
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A New study in the journal Science has suggested that if you think hard about eating sweets, you will probably eat fewer of them. It's because of a process called habituation: the more you imagine a habit, the less excited you become by the prospect of indulging it.
This discovery is, of course, counter-intuitive: for years we have assumed that thinking about something desirable increases cravings for it and the likelihood of consumption. But now we know the opposite to be the case. Armed with this knowledge, what bad habits could habituation be used to quell?
Maybe England football fans, by constantly imagining their country being awarded the World Cup, will then be less distraught when it doesn't happen. Perhaps those precious hours devoted to X Factor could be spent on more worthwhile pursuits if those viewing pleasures were contemplated in advance.
And above all, dieters might avoid those midnight snacks, and other sinful indulgences, by imagining each fattening mouthful in close succession. As the scientists put it, "people who repeatedly imagined the consumption of a morsel of food – such as an M&M or cube of cheese – subsequently consumed less of that food". If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Now then, let's imagine what's on the menu for lunch?
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments