Good news for all of you out there who like to splurge on your favorite junk food: it may actually be better to just give in than to hold yourself back.
A recent study from Duke University found that restricting yourself too much from what you eat may actually be worse for you.
Based on brain scans, this study found that too much self-discipline can make it more difficult to process key facts and remember important information.
The study was done by having participants perform a memory test.
They were shown 120 different faces, and told to indicate whether or not they were male or female.
Then, they were asked a surprise question: had that face already been used in the test?
The participants, on the whole, did worse on knowing that they hadn’t seen the face before. ##MN_RESP##
So basically, when they have to do something that requires self-control, it may make it harder for them to remember details. Or, as the compelling intro to the movie says:
“You’re about to switch lanes on a busy road when you realize there’s a car in your blind spot. You have to put a stop to your lane change—and quickly. A new study suggests that this type of scenario makes a person less likely to remember what halted the action—for example, the make and model of the car in the blind spot.”
Cool, right? When applied to dieting, it’s counteracting the impulse you’ve learned to just reach for a bag of chips when you’re hungry. You’re stopping yourself from doing a learned action, and that may affect your memory of that action.
So until you wean yourself off of your favorite junk completely, it may be better to indulge sometimes.
