A VOLUME CONTROL FOR YOUR APPETITE

Can we turn down 'food noise' to make healthy eating easier?

- by IAN TAYLOR

Of all the myriad mysteries of science, the one that's currently got my neurons in a twist concerns a Toffee Crisp stashed away in my kitchen cupboard. I'm entirely preoccupied by it – it's like being pulled by some metaphysical tide.

The question is, how? How can a chocolate bar scrape away at my willpower when – the last time I checked – I was a halfway-intelligent adult who should know better?

The answer may have something to do with 'food noise': those persistent, intrusive thoughts about food and eating between mealtimes. In the case of my bewitching Toffee Crisp, these thoughts are probably a short-lived distraction that I'll give in to within the hour.

For some people, however, food noise is a more serious problem, that's according to Daisuke Hayashi, a doctoral researcher at Pennsylvania State University. He says that when the volume is dialled up, food noise is a feed of “constant and obsessive thoughts that detract from a person’s wellbeing and make it difficult for them to make healthy choices.”