We have a tendency to tag things in positive and negative ways.
Food is a good example of this, and for people who are trying to reduce weight the way that they think about their food can have a marked impact on whether or not they will succeed.

An interesting piece of research from Chicago found that food which we think of as 'healthy' can actually make you hungrier.

The researchers performed several studies on perception of food. In the first a group of fifty-one students were asked to sample a chocolate-raspberry protein bar.

One third were either told they were sampling 'a new health bar, containing lots of protein, vitamins and fibre', and another third were told they were sampling a 'chocolate bar that is very tasty and yummy with a chocolate-raspberry core.'

Another third were asked to examine the bars and rate their hunger but they were not to eat either bar.

At a timed interval afterwards they were all asked to rate their hunger. Those who thought they were given a 'healthy' bar were hungrier than either those with the 'yummy' bar, or the non-eaters.

This backs up the impression obtained from previous research that when people think of healthier food they perceive that they are taking food that is less tasty and less satisfying.

In a second study, sixty-two people were given a piece of bread alternately described as being 'low-fat and nutritious' or 'tasty, with a thick crust and soft centre.' After sampling the bread, they were offered a snack of pretzels, which are considered a 'neutral' food.

That is, neither healthy like carrot sticks, nor desirable like chocolate. They found that those who thought they had been given 'healthy' bread ate more pretzels afterward than those who sampled the 'tasty' bread.

In a third study, researchers offered students a choice of chocolate-raspberry protein bar or a honey-peanut protein bar. This time the bars were randomly described as 'healthy' and 'tasty'.

Interestingly, in this case where people were given the chance to decide for themselves if they wanted the healthy choice or the indulgent choice, there was no difference in hunger levels afterward between the two groups.

These three studies suggest the part that the mind plays. We tend to tag foods as being positive and healthy, or negative and indulgent.

But, it seems that when we think of food as being especially 'healthy' we perceive it as being less tasty and less satisfying. I said at the beginning of the article that the way we think can affect the way that the person feels.

This seems to be because our thinking affects the release of hormones.
In particular, when the hormone ghrelin is released it tells us that we are hungry. It seems that if you are trying to eat healthily, you need to think of your food as 'tasty.'