Being a foodie can actually keep you lean

According to researchers, when the study participants were told that they were great food addicts, they tend to consume fewer calories than those who were told they had low or average score.

Further, they also reported greater concern about their eating behaviour, which in turn, reduced the amount of time they spent tasting the foods.

"Our research found that participants who believed themselves to be 'food addicts' reduced the amount of time they were exposed to unhealthy foods and ate less as a result," according to Helen Ruddock, doctoral student at the University of Liverpool in Britain.

"This appears to be because the perception of being a food addict made them concerned about their eating behaviour," Ruddock added.

The team examined the impact of changing participants' personal food addiction beliefs on eating behaviour, in two separate studies.

Women completed a series of computer tasks about food. On completion, they were given bogus feedback on their performance which indicated that they had high low, or average levels of food addiction.

Their intake of unhealthy foods (chocolate and crisps) was then measured in a taste test.

"Our study is first to show that personal beliefs about food addiction can influence how much we eat. Further work with a larger sample group and over a longer time period is now needed," Ruddock said.