It's the middle of the afternoon; you're feeling stressed and a bit peckish. You're fighting the urge to buy that candy bar beckoning you from the vending machine in your company's breakroom. It's an all-too-common habit that you want to fend off.
But how? Scientists have found several ways people can trick their brains into eating healthier snacks to keep them full while still feeding that impulse monster. They include storing healthier choices at eye level, combining relaxation techniques with eating fruit or other nutritious pick-me-ups, and simply not buying the foods you want to avoid, particularly if you work from home. The prime reason people snack is stress.
Several studies have revealed that when people are stressed, eating less-nutritious "comfort food" signals the brain's reward system, which can lead to habitual stress eating — a scenario similar to abusing drugs, which affects the same pleasure-seeking regions of the brain. But there are ways to fool yourself, even when stressed, to grab foods that are more beneficial to your health. Visual cues can guide you to make healthy choices One study demonstrated how food displayed in a hospital cafeteria impacted people's choices in purchasing cold beverages, premade sandwiches, and chips.
Over a period of three months, researchers collected sales data for these items after they were arranged to display the healthiest items at eye level. They found that when less nutritious sugary sodas were placed lowest in a display.
