Outsmart urges with these stick-to-your-diet tricks.

So, you're on track to building a healthier diet, but your good intentions regularly get derailed by cravings? Not surprising: unlike run-of-the-mill hunger, cravings link to our brain's reward system. Emotions and happy associations (Granny used to bake you choc muffins) can trigger cravings and, when you eat that food, your brain releases dopamine, a chemical related to pleasure. Next time a craving kicks in, use these tricks to just say no...


CRAVING KILLER 1

Accept defeat

In a study by Drexel University, US, which tempted people with chockies for 48 hours (yep, evil scientists), those who resisted the urge to eat used an acceptance-based strategy: acknowledging the craving, accepting it, and choosing not to act on it. Instead of trying to ignore your desire for salt-and-vinegar chips, admit that you want some. It works on the same principle as getting the hots for a co-worker when you're in a relationship - recognising you'll always be attracted to cute guys (or delicious food) prevents you from acting on the feeling when it comes up.


CRAVING KILLER 2

Give in -a little

The key is practicing restraint and not deprivation. "When you forbid a food, it only becomes more attractive, and you become likely to overeat," says Janet Polivy, author of Break the Diet Habit. So, when you need to feed the cocoa monster, reach for a small prepackaged snack, which limits your intake, and call it a day. This way you'll be much less likely to break down and attack a family-sized block of Cadbury.


CRAVING KILLER 3

Fantasise

Being told to think of something else when you're in the grip of a powerful craving is about as helpful as being told to swim when you're drowning. But there is a way that advice can work: researchers at Adelaide's Flinders University found that occupying your senses with a vivid non-food fantasy can stifle the urge.

"Your short-term memory has limited storage," says study author Eva Kemps. To conjure an image - a cupcake or that week in Tahiti - you need to pull it out of your long-term memory, the way an iPod cues up one song at a time from the gazillion it has in storage. But short-term memory has only so much room; it can't play "Cake" and "Holiday" at the same time. "The idea is to keep your short-term memory busy by fantasising about something else," Kemps says.

This worked for her study participants. When asked to recall smells (like freshly mown grass) and sights (such as the Sydney Opera House) their cravings for chocolate, which was right in front of them, were cut by about 30 per cent. Their minds couldn't handle the craving and new sensory imagery at the same time, so the craving got dumped. Think about your bloke in nothing but a towel, and you might forget that cupcake.


CRAVING KILLER 4

Go low-GI

Although hunger and cravings are different, hunger can definitely leave you craving unhealthy food. Stave off hunger with low-GI foods - like most wholegrain breads, legumes, yoghurt and most vegies - which are digested slowly and produce gradual rises in blood sugar, so after eating them, you feel fuller and energised for longer. This year, University of Sydney researchers asked subjects to consume standard white bread and Bürgen® Wholemeal and Seeds bread. After eating the low-GI Bürgen® bread, subjects felt fuller for longer and, on average, reduced their subsequent intake by 500kJ and 4g of fat, compared to when they ate the white bread.

For the GI value of a type of food, go to glycemicindex.com and search the database.