"You've Got to Give Up Chocolate"—and 5 Other Myths About the Foods You Can't Resist

Chocolate? Bread? Cupcakes? Chips? What's your culinary crack? I guarantee it's not lentils.

"We don't see people craving fruits and legumes that have been around for centuries," points out Ashley Gearhardt, a doctoral student at Yale and a pioneer in food addiction (you can watch her at a recent UCSF symposium here.) "It's the processed foods that give us a rush of sugar, fat, and salt-in much higher levels than we've ever had before. And science suggests that they're artificially engineered to hijack the brain to get the reward juices going and encourage the loss of control over consumption."
Whatever your particular food boo is, research by Gearhardt and others is changing the way experts think about controlling our unruly cravings. For example:

1."I have to give it up." Not necessarily. First of all, a banana has about as much sugar as a serving of Twizzlers. "But the sugar in Twizzlers is a quick hit, while in the fruit, it comes packaged with fiber that slows down the absorption," Gearhardt says. "And we know that the faster something reaches the bloodstream, the more addictive it is. That's why having a shot of liquor is different than sipping a beer." Secondly, if you can find your trouble-food in a less processed version, you may be able to enjoy it without the mad urge to keep eating.

New York City Nutritionist Marissa Lippert, RD, author of The Cheater's Diet, suggests, for example, that chocolate lovers try small amounts of the pure, really high-quality stuff-dark, and above 70% cocoa-or melting a little and combining it with fruit. "Dip two or three strawberries (50 calories each) or drizzle it over or banana or grilled pineapple slices," she says. Or if you're a bread fiend, substitute white (which has a sneaky amount of sodium) with 100% whole wheat; you'll slow down the carb-rush and tame the impulse to inhale the entire loaf. "Try spelt, dark rye, whole-wheat sourdough, and pumpernickel," she says. "And please don't bother with anything stale, soggy, or wrapped in plastic. That's just not worth it!"

2."I love it so much-that's why I keep eating it." Ironically, the opposite might be true. Alcoholics crave booze more than other people, but when they get it, the high isn't as intense as they'd anticipated, so they want more. Research suggests a similar dynamic happens with food, says Gearhardt, especially in people struggling with their weight. "You see an ad for an ice cream sundae, or smell the cookie baking, or drive by a Dunkin Donuts, and the cue really trips your brain's reward system-even before your willpower even has a chance to step in-making you crave that food so much you automatically move toward it," she says. "But when you actually get the food, the brain's pleasure centers aren't as active. In fact, the experience is so underwhelming, you eat more because you're chasing the expectation of what you thought you were going to get. It's really unfair."

3. "I should save up my calories to splurge later." Dieting all day so you can dig into the bread at a restaurant sounds like a good idea. But hunger is known to weaken willpower, no matter what behavior you're trying to get a grip on. "The hungrier you are, the more the reward circuitry in the brain lights up when you see food," says Gearhardt. "So you walk into a room and have a really hard time moving your attention away from the breadbasket, or the cookies that someone's brought to the office meeting."

4. "I pig out when I'm depressed or stressed." That's true. But you can also overeat because you're really happy. "It's like, Ah, whatever, I can have this cake, who cares?" says Gearhardt. "Any kind of intense emotion can distract you from the tedious process of sticking to a nutritious plan." One of the most successful strategies in managing cravings, she says, is keeping a record of what you eat, when you eat, and what else is going on at the time-both physically and emotionally. Various studies show that a food journal helps you outsmart your impulses.

5. "I'll never take another bite." If you can't eat a potato chip without polishing off a family-size bag, going cold turkey might be a good idea. But never say, "never." The reason is the old What the Hell Effect (you have one chip and figure you've blown it, so you might as well go on a snack-rack bender.) The truth is, we all trip and fall, and it doesn't mean we can't get up and walk again. So if you're trying to eliminate a problem food, fine: Just build in a plan for exactly what you'll do if, and when, you break your rule.

6. "All I need is to avoid temptation." In general, says Gearhardt, keeping those culprit treats out of the house is wise-as is avoiding the cues to them (for example, change your route to bypass a favorite drive-through.) But rather than just focusing on "not" eating something-which is all about depriving and punishing yourself-you're way better off thinking about you'd love to have instead. Fruit with fat-free whipped cream? Peanut butter and banana on whole-wheat toast? "There are certainly healthy foods that won't make your brain go crazy," Gearhardt says. "At the end of the day, eating should be about pleasure."

Do you agree? Are you addicted to certain foods?


For more on managing food cravings....
5 New Ways to Deal with them
100-Calorie Treats to Outsmart Them
Sneaky Foods with Salt
A few More Ideas for Food Addicts

[photo credit: Getty Images]