It\u2019s tough to eat healthy under any circumstances, let alone when you\u2019re stressed. But now, new research suggests a hack to help you eat healthy, even when you\u2019re completely frazzled.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s called \u2018precommitment\u2019, and it\u2019s a strategy that could help you make healthier food choices when you feel stressed. Dieticians say leaning into this strategy can help fight back the urge to just grab whatever is convenient and tasty when you\u2019re in a bind.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what precommitment means in terms of what you eat, plus why it can be helpful for keeping you on the right healthy-eating track.<\/p>\n
What did the study find?<\/p>\n
The small study, published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology<\/a>, recruited 29 college students and had them complete two experimental sessions about 16 days apart.<\/p>\n First, participants completed an online questionnaire rating 285 food items based on how healthy, tempting, and tasty the students thought they were. They also reported how often they ate different types of food, how good they were at regulating their eating behaviours, and how impulsive they tended to be.<\/p>\n Researchers then took that information and created 96 pairs of food items for each participant. Each pair featured one item that the participants said was healthy but not so tasty, and another item that they viewed as tasty but less healthy.<\/p>\n Participants were then asked to do two experiments to simulate stress. For one, students immersed their hands in warm water and did a basic counting task without anyone evaluating them. In the second experiment, meant to simulate stress, students alternated between keeping their hand in cold water and doing a mental math test under pressure. These students were also told that they were being recorded and were given negative feedback.<\/p>\n All the students then completed the \u2018precommitment\u2019 stage of the study, in which they viewed food pairs. In some situations, they were simply shown the food pairs; in others, they were given the option to remove the less healthy foods. Then, they did another experiment \u2013 either the stress task or the warm water task, depending on what they did beforehand. From there, they moved to a choice stage, in which participants viewed pairs of foods and were asked to choose which they wanted to eat.<\/p>\n Overall, researchers found that the students chose tastier but less healthy foods more often than they chose healthier but less tasty options. But, they also found that when stressed, participants were more likely to choose less healthy yet tasty foods.<\/p>\n This link was present during the viewing trials (where they just looked at the food), but not during the restriction trials (where they had the option to remove a less healthy food).<\/p>\n Researchers wrote in the study that \u2018this has important implications for interventions aimed at promoting healthier food choices, especially in stressful environments, that could particularly benefit individuals with lower dietary restraint.\u2019<\/p>\n What does \u2018precommitment\u2019 mean?<\/p>\n Precommitment is a strategy in which you restrict what you\u2019ll eat in the future to make healthier choices. One example that the researchers called out is not buying cake at the grocery store, so you\u2019re not tempted to eat it at home.<\/p>\n \u2018In terms of diet, precommitment can mean making a food decision before stress, hunger, or cravings kick in,\u2019 says Keri Gans, registered dietician and author of The Small Change Diet<\/a>. That can include deciding in advance what to buy, pack, or order, so it\u2019s easier to make the healthier choice when you\u2019re actually in the moment, she says.<\/p>\n Why is this effective for healthy eating?<\/p>\n