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By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #162: Understanding "the curse of licensed self-indulgence"

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Psychology is deeply enmeshed in human consumption patterns. Precisely why do we choose to eat and drink more of some foods and beverages than others? Countless studies have addressed this question, and a few stand out for their striking conclusions.

University of Michigan professors have found that when people are told they’re eating organic food, they will consume more such food. Why? Because they believe – incorrectly – that organic food is healthier than conventional food and thus they have license to indulge.

(Even a news site devoted to touting organic food acknowledges that there is “not nearly enough [evidence] to make categorical claims” about organic food being “nutritionally superior” to non-organic food.)

In the same study, the professors found some people believing that consuming organic food makes exercise less important – which translates to organic food being less healthy than conventional food for such individuals.

Another study showed that when one group of smokers was told they were being given vitamin C supplements (they were actually placebos), and another group of smokers was told they were taking a placebo, the “vitamin c” group smoked nearly twice as many cigarettes. Why? They believed that taking the vitamin supplements entitled them to indulge on other fronts.

A similar study showed the same effect. Participants were split into groups – one taking a supposed weight loss supplement (actually a placebo) and other told they were being given a placebo. The “supplement” group proceeded to walk less than those in the other group and, when covertly observed at a buffet, they ate more and chose less healthy items.

The study’s authors concluded that, “people who rely on dietary supplements for health protection may pay a hidden price: the curse of licensed self-indulgence.”

Yet another study showed that when people were asked to choose between a bacon cheeseburger, a chicken sandwich, and a fish sandwich, 17 percent chose the burger. But when the fish sandwich was replaced with a veggie burger, 37 percent chose the bacon cheeseburger option. The explanation?

“Seeing the salad or veggie burger, people make the mental note to choose that at some nebulous next time, thereby giving them the excuse to indulge now,” is the conclusion of Michael Greger, a physician. Thus the title of the paper reporting these results: “Vicarious goal fulfillment: When the mere presence of a healthy option leads to an ironically indulgent decision.”