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How do you control your nutrition?
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
People trying to stick to a diet should primarily monitor the amount of unhealthy foods they consume, while a healthier diet does not necessarily require restricting food, according to scientists from the University of Minnesota and West Texas A&M University.
"Although self-control is usually a struggle between willpower and desire, people cannot rely entirely on willpower. The best way to control your eating is to monitor the amount of unhealthy food you eat each day," say study initiators Joseph Redden and Kelly Howes.
Some people have the self-control and self-control to stick to a diet, while others are unable to eradicate their cravings for unhealthy foods like candy, cookies, and other sweets. Do the former have such a level of self-control that they can endure all the pain of restrictions and giving up their favorite foods? Or maybe they just get full faster?
A series of studies by scientists has provided an answer to this question. It turned out that people who are able to successfully stick to a diet and not go beyond its limits, satisfy their hunger faster.
Experts also found that paying closer attention and being selective about food can work wonders for those who constantly broke down and couldn't withstand strict dietary restrictions. Such fastidiousness and selectivity in food led to people with insufficient self-control being able to pull themselves together and curb their gastronomic desires.
During the experiment, volunteers who had decided to go on a diet were offered to eat a variety of dishes, some of which were considered healthy, while others were not. Some participants were asked to count the number of pieces they swallowed.
It turned out that the subjects who counted how many times they swallowed food were full faster than those who ate simply for pleasure. This also applied to those people who did not have a sufficient level of self-control and willpower in relation to food.
"People who restrict themselves in food and are on a diet should focus on the amount of unhealthy food they consume. Monitoring your diet can become a very productive model of proper nutrition, because the root of success in various diets is control over your desires," the authors of the study concluded.