The parallel impact of episodic memory and episodic future thinking on food intake

This research examined the effects of both episodic memory and episodic future thinking (EFT) on snack food intake. In Study 1, female participants (n = 158) were asked to recall their lunch from earlier in the day, to think about the dinner they planned to have later in the day, or to think about a non-food activity before taking part in a cookie taste test. Participants who recalled their lunch or who thought about their dinner ate less than did participants who thought about non-food activities. These effects were not explained by group differences in the hedonic value of the food. Study 2 examined whether the suppression effect observed in Study 1 was driven by a general health consciousness. Female participants (n = 74) were asked to think about their past or future exercise (or a non-exercise activity), but thinking about exercise had no impact on participants' cookie consumption. Overall, both thinking about past food intake and imagining future food intake had the same suppression effect on participants' current food intake, but further research is needed to determine the underlying mechanism.