Decadent Dessert First!

For this Valentine’s Day, my present to you: hack your subconscious to eat less so you can eat more of what you want. 

I’m listening to a book called Off Menu by Nell McShane Wulfhart.  It makes me think of Blink by Malcolm Gladwell but for food and on steroids.  

Perception matters.  In the part of the book called “Labels” the author tells of an experiment conducted by Yale and Arizona universities called Mind Over Milkshakes.  

In the first session participants were given a beverage labeled French Vanilla Milkshake.  The label also read: Indulgence, decadence, smooth, rich and delicious.  The nutritional label indicated it had 620 cal per serving.

In a second session the beverage was labeled Sensa Shake; guilt free satisfaction, zero percent fat, zero added sugar and 140 cal per serving. 

During the first session, participants produced more ghrelin after the first taste.  We typically produce ghrelin when our stomachs are empty.  It’s known as the “hunger hormone”.  Then after 30 minutes their ghrelin levels lowered 3x more than the second group. 

During the second session there was no change in ghrelin levels.

Here’s the kicker.  The milkshake beverage in both sessions were exactly the same with 340 calories!   

If the participants thought they were drinking a low calorie shake they responded as though they had.  If they believed they consumed a lot of calories they also responded as if they really had. To illustrate the decreased ghrelin levels, after drinking the shakes participants were offered food.  The first session participants ate less food than the participants of the second session.  The “indulgent, decadent, smooth, rich and delicious” milkshake sped up their metabolism and left the participants feeling less hungry. 

As appealing as it may be for some to live on milkshakes this is not what I’m advocating.  As Sherlock Holmes has said to Dr. John Watson, “I have trained myself to notice what I see.”  Labels matter.  One’s perception of food matters to the extent it can manipulate our biochemical reaction without our conscious knowing.

Let’s say we’re all craving a brownie right now.  Science suggests what’s called Smell Switching.  Try smelling an orange to trigger the brain to crave something more wholesome.  Or smell something savory like steak or cheese or soy sauce as a way of distracting from the original craving.  If I’m still going to have the brownie I could take a long inhale of the brownie itself.  Sating my olfactory senses first can help me regulate how much brownie I would probably normally consume otherwise but it also helps me experience my craving more thoughtfully and thoroughly.  Essentially, when I eat a brownie I better be all in and really notice it.  

So this Valentine’s Day I say Enjoy your Decadent Dessert first!