KEY TAKEAWAYS
A loud environment can increase the cognitive demand of managing food cravings.
Considering the consequences before eating unhealthy food might reduce your craving for it, but it’s harder work for your brain.
Food noise can add to the stress of managing cravings, but simple strategies can curb it.
Imagine eating at a bar/restaurant and deciding on the grilled salmon with rice and a side salad. Pleased with yourself, you close the menu, but there’s a burger on the cover. Quick! Distract yourself. You focus on the hubbub of music and happy adults shouting between bites. But the noise and food make it hard to think straight. When the server arrives, it’s not the salmon you order…
CRAVINGS CAN HIT IN AN INSTANT, shaped by marketing, hormones, stress, sleep, smiles, the company, a whiff of fried food. Emerging research also suggests that your environment's noise level can affect how hard cravings are to resist. As we enter the holiday season, which can test willpower around food and family, it’s worth understanding 1. how the environment contributes to the mental load of cravings, and 2. how we can turn the volume down.
What’s the hardest part about food cravings/food noise?
The study: Fine dining versus the sports bar
In a 2022 Frontiers study, Danish researchers analyzed 36 young adults viewing appetizing images of hyperpalatable food while hearing soft (50 dB) versus loud (70dB) noise. This is the decibel difference between a fine dining restaurant and a sports bar. Researchers also recorded participants’ brainwave activity and asked them to rate their cravings in different eating scenarios. So how does noise impact our response to cravings?
1. Noise may increase rash decision-making
Researchers observed that louder environments can increase brainwave patterns linked to greater mental activity, which might influence how we make food choices. As they explain it:
“In a noisy eating environment, our cognitive resources may get depleted, potentially leading to cognitive overload, emotional arousal, and consequently more rash decisions, such as unhealthy food choices.”
Though this wasn’t necessarily linked to higher cravings, it suggests that regulating cravings in a noisy place takes more effort and may trigger more emotional decisions.
2. Environmental noise makes it harder to consider the consequences of food choices
Participants reported weaker food cravings once they considered the consequences (“later” thinking) of their decision compared to acting on the immediate (“now”) sensation/reward. Unfortunately, considering the consequences of your food choices taxes the brain, especially in a noisy environment.
EEG recordings showed more theta [hard-working] activity, a pattern linked to mental effort. But our brains naturally favor the path of least resistance (the “law of least mental effort”), so louder places may affect decision-making when surrounded by palatable food.
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The additional impact of food noise on cravings
Beyond the influence of environmental noise, food noise can make it even more difficult to manage strong cravings. Food noise describes incessant mental chatter around food, which can lead to persistent cravings, distress, and overwhelm regarding food, eating, and navigating food in social situations.
Tufts Medicine refers to food noise as a ‘psychological tug-of-war."
Food noise is often linked to our mental state—boredom, fatigue, shame, anxiety, and low self-esteem. This research demonstrates that the LOUDNESS of a place may add to the burden. Over time, it could affect how we eat, connect, and show up in our own lives.
Six ways to turn down the volume
Fortunately, there are evidence-backed ways to manage both cravings and food noise when life gets loud— both literally and figuratively.
Eat regular meals.
Even on holidays and big events, skipping or restricting meals can increase food preoccupation and cravings. Focusing on protein and fiber can increase fullness and satiety.
Be aware.
Cravings are just thoughts, so experts suggest pausing, breathing, and noticing the feelings (is it hunger, fullness, stress?). Gently refocus, even if the urge persists.
Try the Wednesday Rule.
We learned that considering the consequences of food choices takes greater mental bandwidth, but it’s still an evidence-backed way to reduce perceived cravings.
I like what Joshua Fields Millburn of The Minimalists asks before making any decision: If I do [x] now, will I regret the decision next Wednesday?
Reduce distractions.
Put the screen away, and if your environment feels overstimulating, try moving to a quieter area and see what happens in your brain.
Get help if needed.
If cravings or food thoughts dominate your day, or if they make eating distressing, talk with a provider or registered dietitian for additional resources to support your mental well-being.
Don’t stop living.
Avoiding loud dinners and tempting food isn’t the goal of long-term health. Ironically, food avoidance might also fuel anxiety around cravings and food, à la the pink elephant paradox.
What about GLP-1s for cravings?
There’s a curious case for GLP-1s, which have been shown to significantly cut the mental chatter around food, as well as reduce food cravings. Researchers think that it’s because they limit activity in our brain’s reward pathway, making cravings easier to ignore. Since they’re not indicated for food cravings, talk with a provider if you’re considering starting.
Cravings can be loud. They affect more than appetite, from how we behave in social gatherings to our relationship to food, diet quality, mental health, and possibly disease risk.
However, understanding how our environment can shape cravings and our decision-making capacity can help support a healthier relationship with food and our own mind.
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READER RESPONSE
This question was featured in last week’s issue: Alzheimer’s detection is changing. Are we ready to know earlier? We asked:
Would you want an early warning for Alzheimer’s?
Wow! This was a milestone poll for write-ins. The leading response was yes, often influenced by a parent or relative with Alzheimer’s. Others said yes so they could prepare: to get affairs in order, seek earlier treatment, or modify lifestyle. Others hesitated unless they could do something about it. One response really captures this tension. “No sense [in] stressing about something if you cannot do anything about it.”
Great day,
Erin
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The information provided about wellness and health is for general informational and educational purposes only. We are not licensed medical professionals, and the content here should not be considered medical advice. Talk to a doctor before trying any of these suggestions.
