Did you know that you’ll probably have more self-control with food after you’ve spent time in front of a tasty treat?

Here’s how we know that’s true…

Catholic University researchers in Leuven, Belgium, created a sequence of studies where they put study participants in situations with tempting foods.

For example, they discovered that if you’re in the presence of M&M chocolate candies (rather than just looking at pictures of them or smelling the chocolate), then you’ll have more self-control.

They used 3 studies to show that the most important component of self-control was the prior opportunity to eat the tempting food. In other words, if you had the option to eat the tempting food before and didn’t, you’ll carry over your willpower to the next tempting situation.

In previous studies by other researchers, only the picture or smell of a tempting food was presented to the study participants. But this new study shows that the important part is to make the temptation real.

According to this study at least, seeing pictures of food on TV or in magazines might lead you to eat more the next time you have the chance. It seems that you’re better off to have a lot of candy at home to help you control your eating.

So that’s how being in the presence of tempting foods can help you to control how much you eat in future situations.