Give chocolates the chop (23 April 2012) The Advertiser
Treating a craving for food such as chocolate like an itch that will eventually go away can help overcome bad eating patterns, an Adelaide researcher says.
It’s one of the techniques suggested by Dr Robyn Moffitt, whose research has included giving chocolates to groups of volunteer chocoholics who are asked not to eat any of them.
Dr Moffitt, MasterChef judge and taste columnist Matt Preston and British Professor Charles Spence will be on a panel discussing “Cravings” this weekend as part of Tasting Australia.
“Trying to get rid of a craving is like trying to get rid of an itch,” Dr Moffitt said yesterday. “You just can’t control it when it comes. If you don’t scratch it, eventually it will go away.”
Dr Moffitt also recommended an approach she called “urge surfing”.
“It’s about surfing the urge as the craving gets more intense and being able to resist acting on the urge until it comes down,” she said. “A lot of people don’t get to that point and just eat chocolate and that gets rid of the craving. But you need to let the urge go down.”
Dr Moffitt, who works with the CSIRO on programs looking at obesity and lifestyle changes, said chocolate was the food craved by most people, followed by hot chips.
The “Cravings” panel discussion will be on during the Bank SA Feast for the Senses, at Elder Park on Saturday and Sunday.
By Food Editor Simon Wilkinson
