WHAT TO EAT WHEN

How the timing of your food choices affects your health

This week: Eat chocolate after dinner.

EATING chocolate only when you are full can stop you craving it so much, according to a study at University College London.

Researchers split students into two groups, giving both groups half a bar of chocolate twice a day. One group were told to eat it on an empty stomach, the other 15 minutes after eating a main meal.

After two weeks, the empty stomach group reported stronger chocolate cravings than before. By contrast, the students who had been eating the chocolate after meals craved it less, and even reported that it now seemed less pleasant to the taste — including those who said at the start of the study that they loved chocolate. Eating high-fat, high-sugar foods on an empty stomach may lead to more cravings because they taste even better when you’re hungry. The researchers said it should be theoretically possible to train yourself out of any food craving by only eating it when you’re not hungry.