How to kill your junk food cravings: Let your mind wander

If you find you are constantly craving sweet or salty foods, a recent study shows that over-stimulating your brain with pictures of those foods may help kill your desire for them.

The study had participants repeatedly rating or choosing pictures of food in a process called "sensory simulation". One group viewed sweet foods and the other salty.

The researchers found that when participants repeatedly evaluated sweet or salty foods, it had an effect on their brains similar to actually eating them over and over.

When the participants were actually given sweet or salty foods later, their enjoyment of eating had significantly decreased.

When your enjoyment of eating something decreases, you’re a lot less likely to crave it. This method may not work for everyone, but it could work for you if you feel like certain foods have you in their grip.

The idea is to look at something so much that you’re sick of it. Imagine looking at an endless stream of pizza pictures until the last thing on earth you want to see is a pizza.