“The grocery lists most people jot down before going to the store can create a mental loophole for impulse food. That’s because the act of remembering a variety of food choices makes people more vulnerable to slipping cookies, chips and other not-so-healthy items onto the list, a new study finds.
‘The mental effort that you’re using is mental effort you do not have to keep yourself in check — controlling your desire for chocolate cake rather than fruit salad, for example,’ explained lead researcher Yuval Rottenstreich, an associate professor of management at Duke University.
Rottenstreich stressed, however, that it was still smarter to head to the supermarket with a list in hand than without — just read it back and cross out any sugary or fatty items that may have snuck in.”