3-Minute Cure For Food And Nicotine Cravings

If you’re longing for cookies, French fries—or a cigarette—there’s a fun, and surprisingly effective, way to quickly block that urge, according to a new study published in the journal Appetite.
Researchers from Plymouth University found that playing the video game Tetris for three minutes significantly reduced the strength, frequency, and vividness of cravings for food, drinks, nicotine, and caffeine.
The study included 119 young men and women, 80 of whom reported cravings for food or drink (58), caffeine (10), or nicotine (12). One group played the block-building game for three minutes, while the other sat in front of a screen that claimed to be loading the game (but didn’t, thus preventing them from playing it). After three minutes, the second group was shown a “load error” message.
The gamers experienced a 24 percent reduction in their cravings, compared to a 5.5 percent drop for those who never got to play the game.
Train to Be a Superhero Stuntman

Why Does a Video Game Help Combat Cravings?

The scientists theorize that playing Tetris quells yearnings by distracting the brain with an engrossing visual activity that blocks craving-inducing imagery (such as picturing a luscious chocolate cake and imagining how delicious it would taste).
"Episodes of craving normally only last a few minutes, during which time an individual is visualising what they want and the reward it will bring," study researcher Jackie Andrade, PhD, a professor at Plymouth University, reported in a statement.
“Often those feelings result in the person giving in and consuming the very thing they are trying to resist,” the professor added. “But by playing Tetris, just in short bursts, you are preventing your brain creating those enticing images and without them the craving fades.”
The researchers suggest that other engrossing visual activities may have a similar effect. And since the study only looked at the immediate effect of the game, there is no evidence that playing it would lead to weight loss or increased success with quitting smoking.
It is also unknown if there is anything specific about Tetris that curbs craving, as opposed to other distracting activities, such as playing other games, doing Sudoku, or surfing the Web.
13 Health Myths Busted

Other Surprising Benefits of Gaming

Intriguingly, earlier research has also reported potential health perks to Tetris, with a 2012 study linking playing it to decreases in flashbacks and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, such as irritability, poor sleep, rage, and difficulty concentrating.
A small study in 2013 published in Current Biology also found that the block-building game may be helpful to adults with lazy eye (amblyopia). In the study, patients “treated” with Tetris had four times greater improvement in vision than those who were treated with an eye patch.
Playing the popular video puzzle game may help strengthen the weak eye by providing an enjoyable way to train both eyes to work together to overcome the disorder, the researchers told CTV News.

http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/3-minute-cure-food-and-nicotine-cravings