Back in the early 1970s, psychologists at Northwestern University performed an experiment that, on the surface, looked like a child's fantasy. The researchers gathered 45 college women and asked some of them to drink a milkshake'or two. Then they placed three pints of ice cream in front of each woman and asked her to taste each one. Afterward, they told each participant to 'help herself to any of the remaining ice cream, as she wished,' the researchers wrote in the Journal of Personality. Finally'and this was key'each woman completed a survey meant to measure how much she dieted or 'restrained' her eating, outside of the treats she had just consumed. The findings were dramatic. On average, the women who said they didn't diet or have weight concerns ate less ice cream if they drank at least one milkshake. The first sweet treat satiated their hunger. But for the women who dieted and felt worried about their weight, the milkshake appeared to unleash a hidden hunger. On average, they...
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