The chocolate temptation creeps up without warning, tapping you on the shoulder and taunting you with temptation. "Just take a bite," it whispers. Now all you can think about is devouring a chocolate bar or big bag of choc chip biscuits. What do you do? Give in the craving and scoff that chocolate, feeling immediately sick from the sweetness? Or distract yourself and hope the craving subsides?
Well before you unwrap that sugar-laden treat, take note of this: a new study suggests that a 15-minute walk could ward off even the most intense chocolate temptations.
Why do we crave chocolate?
Stress, anxiety, depression, even excitement can all bring on strong sugar cravings. And researchers are delving deeper into why we turn to food and snacking when the mood strikes.
After eating a sweet treat, we feel immediately better. Satisfied. Happy. Even ecstatic. But then comes that awful lethargy, the post-binge tiredness. We should get back to work, but wouldn't a nap be nice right about now?
Can exercise calm cravings?
Several recent studies have pointed to exercise as a winning way to quell our chocolate – and other food – cravings. By boosting feel-good endorphins, movement often inspires us to eat a healthy snack rather than give in to our desires for delectable treats.
How can walking help with chocolate cravings?
This new study, published in journal PLOS ONE, and undertaken by researchers at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, sheds new light on the chocolate craving conundrum.
It involved 47 overweight people who say they eat chocolate or other sugary snacks every day. They were told not to eat those treats for 3 days (yes, a whole 3 days!) and were then placed into one of two groups.
What did the groups have to do?
Half of the people in the study walked briskly on a treadmill. The other half were instructed to sit for the same amount of time. Just sit, nothing more.
After 5 minutes, both groups sat quietly. And then all participants took a stress test called the Stroop test.
The Stroop test is one of those frustrating tools used by smart people to get the rest of us riled up. They may show you a card that has the word "yellow" written in red ink. Or the word ‘blue' written in green ink. You have to name the colour, obviously stumbling over the difference between the written word and its colour.
And then came the challenge that tests any chocolate lover: they had to hold their favourite sugary treat for 30 seconds. During that time, their blood pressure and heart rate was measured.
What were the results of the chocolate craving study?
In a chocolate-covered nutshell, here's what the researchers found:
Being stressed prompted sugar cravings. But the people who were on the treadmill faced less intense cravings, compared to those who just sat and watched and got all stressed about coloured cards and holding chocolates.
So what should we do with this information? Try it out for yourself! Next time you hear the call of a chocolate craving, go for a stroll first. See how you feel afterwards. You may still eat a little sugar when you finish, but that intense feeling to ingest an entire packet of Tim Tams may have reduced to just one or two biscuits.
Because that's what life is about, right? Balance. And enjoying the sweet things every now and then.
Originally published on Apr 06, 2015
