The Best & Worst Junk Foods

Suddenly, as you're standing in the checkout line buying yogurt for your planned midmorning snack, it hits you that you are about to contribute to that $50 billion business instead: You're having a dreaded junk-food attack. All those checkout candies stare at you. The fast-food joint next door starts calling your name. No reduced-fat cookie or lowfat ice cream will cut it this time -- you're in the mood for high-fat munchies, and the craving won't subside until you get your forbidden treat ...

If this junk-food frenzy seems familiar to you, you're not alone. A study conducted at Pennsylvania State University in State College and published in the June 1999 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that the more you restrict your diet, the more you will crave the foods you forbid yourself.

The study let preschoolers sample apple and peach bars. One flavor they could eat in unlimited quantities, the other they could only taste briefly. The forbidden bar quickly became the object of desire as the most scrumptious snack even though it was practically identical to the other bar. Researchers joked that kids would crave cardboard if parents made a big enough deal about how bad it was for them.