Does work distract you from chocolate cravings?

Wednesday, 18 April 2012 1:45 PM

What's your guilty pleasure? Nuffield Health, promoting their free three-day guest pass offer, analysed a YouGov survey of more than 2,000 people, and found that chocolate is still the biggest vice of UK men (19%) and women (38%).

Chocolate is the most common guilty pleasure across all ages, but particularly so among 18-24 year olds (35%). However, it seems people’s tastes may change over time with just 28% of people aged 55 years and above choosing chocolate as their number one guilty pleasure.

But the poll found that those working full-time appear less likely to succumb to temptation, with just over a quarter (26%) reporting chocolate as their guilty pleasure, compared to 41% of people working part-time. This may be because we are distracted from our cravings.

Dr Davina Deniszczyc, Professional Head of Physicians at Nuffield Health, said: “A lot of food choices are emotional; when we’re young and something tastes good, it triggers good feelings in the brain and makes us want more. If the perceived good sensation from food is less, due to poorer taste or poorer reward response as we age, we are less likely to emotionally or mentally crave it.” 

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