CQ

Ok, I heard about this one on the news tonight. I think this is just stupid, IMO. I know of things that I ate in my past, like when I was pregnant, that just made me sick as a dog, that yeah, for awhile afterwards I couldn't face eating that again, but that fades pretty quickly.


[font=Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif]New diet aid — the power of suggestion? [/font]
Study suggests people can be persuaded that certain foods make them sick

Reuters
Updated: 12:05 p.m. ET Aug. 2, 2005

WASHINGTON - It might be possible to talk a dieter into hating strawberry ice cream, but it may be impossible to help people lose their cravings for more popular snacks such as chocolate chip cookies, researchers said Monday.

A study on the power of suggestion found that people could be falsely persuaded that they had once become sick eating strawberry ice cream as children — and they later said they would avoid this food.

“We believe this new finding may have significant implications for dieting,” said Loftus, a distinguished professor who specializes in memory and suggestion at the University of California at Irvine.

Loftus and colleagues at the University of Washington and Kwantlen University College in Washington experimented with more than 200 volunteers, mostly students, who did not know the goal of the study.

They used what is called a false feedback technique.

“You gather data from the subject,” Loftus said in a telephone interview. “It just so happens that these were data about personality and childhood experiences about food. You tell them you fed the data into a very smart computer and it comes out with profile about childhood experiences with food.”

In fact, the researchers crafted a printout with predictable associations, such as a childhood dislike of spinach and love of pizza.

“Then you add in (that) you got sick on strawberry ice cream. You want them to think about the getting sick aspect of the experience,” Loftus said.

Then the volunteers were asked to describe what may have happened -- for instance, eating strawberry ice cream at a birthday party and becoming ill.

“Most of our subjects came up with a belief that this had happened as opposed to developing an actual memory,” Loftus said.

Saying, 'No, thanks'
Up to 40 percent of the students fell for it, and most of them lowered their preference for strawberry ice cream on a later questionnaire, Loftus and colleagues reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Some of the volunteers got no suggestion, and their food preferences did not change. And some of the volunteers were told they had a bad chocolate chip cookie experience.

“It didn’t work in chocolate chip cookies and it didn’t work in a previous experiment we did with potato chips, either,” Loftus said.

But strawberry ice cream is a rarely eaten food for most people and might be susceptible, the researchers decided.

So can dieters try it now?

“A few things would need to be ironed out before you could take this out to the real world. You would have to show that the effects are longer lasting than just an hour,” Loftus said. ”Then you would also like to show that this would work when real foods are put in front of you,” she added.

But parents might try it with their children, she suggested.

And now her team is working on a study trying to help people eat more healthy food instead of avoiding fattening treats.

“The flip side of this is we convince them they had a really positive experience with asparagus,” she said.

Copyright 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8795396/

__________________
~Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean...~

thirty-two

Hey no player hating on the asparagus! I love that stuff! Canned asparagus or cooked... yum!!!

__________________
Rest in peace, Skkorp. We'll never forget you.

CQ

MMMMmmmmmmm!!!!!!! Asparagus!!!!!! I was already planning a trip to Henry's farmer's market tomorrow. I think I'm going to have to add asparagus to my shopping list now! Man I love that stuff!!!

__________________
~Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean...~

NSD_Blonde

I LOVE asparagus--fresh not canned--ummmm! Now, I'm hungry...dammit!

__________________
If you've got a Harley, you can't not ride it...I'm just sayin!!

CQ

I forgot to add that part, fresh or cooked , NEVER canned!

__________________
~Just because I have a short attention span doesn't mean...~

NSD_Blonde

I do have to say that when I was a kid, I got sick one night after eating cotton candy. Now, I loved cotton candy--right up there with asparagus--and, as I got older, I am certain that the cotton candy did not cause me to get sick--well not solely; it was a night at the fair... However, to this day, I won't eat cotton candy... Unfortunately, there have been numerous other things that this has not worked with--not that I was actually trying this approach, but just as things have come up (pun intended)!

__________________
If you've got a Harley, you can't not ride it...I'm just sayin!!

PortlandCardFan

Canned asparagus is for vegan dogs!!

Now asparaugus with some Extra Virgin (love Virgins ) Olive oil over it put on the grill with light seasoning.. MMMMMMMMMMMM.......

__________________
All Hell is breakin loose!!!!!

nothing worth having is freely given... it is earned through hard work and sacrifice.

I'm sorry Thomas!!!

Linderbee

I have issue with someone telling me to LIE to my children. Sure, little white Santa Claus lies are one thing, but to imprint false memories into their head? That's just crazy.

That being said, Asparagus RULES. I don't care if it's canned or fresh--it's just a yummy flavor party.

__________________
dreamcastrocks--My Hero!!

phillycard

Ehhhhh, give me cauliflower instead!

Linderbee

MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmm..... Cauliflower. Cooked, or raw w/Ranch or something? I love it either way....

__________________
dreamcastrocks--My Hero!!

thirty-two

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

its like the dirty ugly stepchild of brocolli

__________________
Rest in peace, Skkorp. We'll never forget you.

Linderbee

BIM: Broccoli. Don't dis on my cauliflower. Broccoli, however.....yummy as well. Cheese sauce goodness.....

__________________
dreamcastrocks--My Hero!!

NSD_Blonde

Love em both, but must be cooked--carrots on the other hand love raw, but not so much cooked! Man can we get off topic or what!

__________________
If you've got a Harley, you can't not ride it...I'm just sayin!!

marathon_mom

I only like asparagus in soup, no chunks. My sister could eat it by the bushel. Disgusting! Maybe someone jsut needs to cook it for me sometime. That's how I liked Broccoli. Someone cooked it for me - juuuusssst riiiiggggghhht! Cauli & Brocc must be steamed or grilled though. Can't stand it any other way.

Carrots either way. Love em.

Anyone ever had Brocciflower (sp?). It's yummy! I make a mean soup with that stuff!

__________________
Diets STILL suck!

Linderbee

Too bad you're not a newbie, or I'd be ordering up a bowlful!!! There's about 4 veggies I don't like--Peppers, onions, eggplant, okra. The rest is yummy goodness. I'll even eat eggplant if it's breaded, fried and dipped in ranch--ain't that right, NSD?

__________________
dreamcastrocks--My Hero!!