Researchers have found that subtle reminders of platonic love rather than sexual love may help foster healthy food choices.

Symbols of platonic love evoke feelings of commitment and caring that are long-term, whereas sexual love tends to evoke feelings of passion and romance that have a relatively short life span, said David Raska, a Northern Kentucky marketing professor who was lead author of the study.

And those feelings can affect food choices. Subtle signals of commitment may lead consumers to unwittingly choose healthier snack foods, according to the researchers at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, who tested their hypothesis on college students.

Between 45 and 97 students completed three experiments. In the first, they were randomly assigned to view one of three snack menus on a computer screen. Each menu had one of three possible backgrounds: hearts, kisses or a blank white screen.

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10 healthy eating saboteurs that can make you break your diet

Losing weight isn’t easy, especially when you’re surrounded by diet saboteurs. Check out the 10 most common fat traps and how you can avoid them.

Fat trap 1: The cinema

Problem: With all the tempting treats on offer, a trip to the cinema can be a real diet-breaker unless you are blessed with strong willpower. While air-popped popcorn is a great nutritious and diet-friendly snack, when butter and sugar are added into the equation, the tasty snack can quickly lose its healthy credentials and cinema popcorn can be extremely high in fat and calories.

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Let`s accept it – we have all been through this! Imagine, you are battling steep deadlines in the office. And, peeping from behind those files is a packet of that irresistible snack that has been staring at you for a while.

You try to shrug off the feeling and concentrate on your work. But the feeling seems to hang on. Your taste buds too rebel and your mouth starts to water.

You finally take a deep breath and think, `What the heck! One time won`t harm too much!` and the next you know is you are happily munching on the packet, forgetting the extra calories that are being pumped into you. Sounds familiar? Don`t be surprised, you are not alone. `Craving getting the better of us` is a feeling many of us are only too familiar with.

6 diet rules you must follow to lose weight

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