Straight from the Captain Obvious department: About 90 percent of women often experience the intense desire to scarf down foods like cookies, potato chips, and other diet disasters, according to new research. Here's what you don't know: You can kill your worst cravings without waging an all-out willpower war. Turns out, most junk food-related yearnings are learned over time, based on years and years of steady exposure (flashback to grade-school sleepovers and late-night dorm ordering). But it's never too late to retrain your taste buds to lust after nutrient-dense fare—even those veggies you swear you can't stand. Get to it with an assist from the folks who study how to do just that.
1. Taper Off the Trash
Frequent consumption of sugary, fatty, or salty foods both hooks and dulls your taste buds; eventually, you'll need to shovel in more to score the same level of satisfaction. Luckily, the opposite is also true: The less of a food you eat, the less of it you need to score a rush, says David Katz, M.D., a nutrition expert at the Yale School of Medicine and author of Disease Proof: The Remarkable Truth About What Makes Us Well. The key is cutting down in baby steps. If, for example, you typically take three sugars in your coffee, try adding only two this week, then one the next. Within a month, you'll notice that smaller amounts of your guilty pleasures are enough to hit the spot—leaving your palate more receptive to new flavors.
2. Try, Then Try Again
Even if you didn't grow up loving legumes, there's still hope. Studies show that kids who keep trying just a single bite of a health food they dislike (think: those Brussels sprouts) will eventually lose that aversion. "Such training works the same way with adults, and often faster," says Brian Wansink, Ph.D., a professor of marketing at Cornell University and author of Slim By Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life. After sampling something three to five times, you'll start to think, "This isn't so weird or awful." says Wansink. "Before you know it, you'll actually enjoy the flavor."
3. Mix Old with New
Still having trouble downing bitter greens, or feeling kind of meh about root veggies? Pair them with a sprinkling of something you do like. Stir-fry bok choy in a bit of soy sauce, for instance, or dust roasted turnips with some Parmesan cheese. "Initially, what you're doing is masking their flavor, but after several exposures, your brain forms a positive association with both tastes," says Alan Hirsch, M.D., neurological director of Chicago's Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation. "You'll soon find you like the new food on its own."
4. Don't Follow Your Nose
It may not be the flavor of, say, cauliflower or broccoli that you object to, but the smell. "Green peppers, for example, have a bitter taste but a rather sweet scent, so most people find them agreeable to eat," explains Hirsch. To make odoriferous vegetables more palatable, boil or steam them to remove sulfurous (a.k.a. stinky) compounds. Then serve them in a different room. Note: Your sense of smell is at its weakest in the evening. So if we've inspired you to play around with your food choices, know that nighttime's the right time to start getting adventurous.
5. Keep Up Appearances
Pretty plating can also put you in the mood: In a recent study, diners rated an artfully arranged salad as 18 percent more yummy than less attractive salads containing the exact same ingredients. While you're at it, place greens on the right side of your dinner plate. "Americans typically tackle that side first," says Wansink. "Putting vegetables or nutritious food there means you'll eat it faster."
6. Adjust the Volume
Though experts aren't quite sure why, the soundtrack to your meals can influence your fickle tongue. Loud noise (e.g., techno) tends to make food taste less flavorful, according to a study in Food Quality and Preference, while music that could be described as more pleasant (like piano-based tunes) seems to enhance flavors. It could be that your brain is so intent on processing jarring sounds that it underperceives tastes—a reaction you can use to your advantage. Play mellow tracks (or whatever takes you to your sonic happy place) to keep yourself eating the healthy food you already dig; pump up the volume when introducing bitters such as okra or collards into your diet.
