--- title: The Surprising Way To Resist Eating Junk Food description: Scientists found that smelling unhealthy food, like pizza, for more than two minutes might help individuals choose healthier options. canonical: https://time.com/5506851/how-to-stop-eating-junk-food/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-22T16:13:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:56.714Z article:section: Health og:title: The Surprising Way to Resist the Lure of Junk Food og:description: It's counterintuitive but effective, a study finds og:url: https://time.com/5506851/how-to-stop-eating-junk-food/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96788c550057796f/698878be0a4a2246799c7dc4/pizza-pepperoni-cheese-junk-food-diet-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2500 og:image:height: 1406 og:image:alt: pizza-pepperoni-cheese-junk-food-diet-health-motto-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Surprising Way to Resist the Lure of Junk Food twitter:description: It's counterintuitive but effective, a study finds twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96788c550057796f/698878be0a4a2246799c7dc4/pizza-pepperoni-cheese-junk-food-diet-health.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Surprising Way to Resist the Lure of Junk Food > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Here's Why You Stress Eat—And How to Stop Doing It [Watch (HLS stream): Here's Why You Stress Eat—And How to Stop Doing It](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5AuaNTIE.m3u8) (1:34)  _Published 2018-07-31. When you’re in the throes of a stressful situation, just about any healthy distraction — like going for a walk, getting fresh air, doing a quick guided meditation or calling a friend — can help you avoid the draw of junk food._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 22, 2019 4:13 PM UTC  Molly Cranna for TIME  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jan 22, 2019 4:13 PM UTC Just about everyone has ordered a side of fries after catching an intoxicating whiff. But [new research](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022243718820585), which was published in the _Journal of Marketing Research_, says that basking in the scent of junk food for at least two minutes can actually help you make [healthier food choices](http://time.com/5469370/how-to-eat-healthy-diet/). In a series of experiments, the researchers found a surprising relationship between ambient scents and food choices. Time after time, they found that people who sniffed indulgent foods, like pizza or cookies, were actually less likely to choose or purchase unhealthy foods than those who smelled nutritious options, such as apples and strawberries. They confirmed this phenomenon by using a nebulizer to pump scents into a variety of environments, including a middle school cafeteria, a grocery store and a laboratory. When a pizza scent was released into a cafeteria that served about 900 students, for example, 21% of food purchases that day were unhealthy choices like chips, hot dogs and fried chicken. But when an apple scent was released on another day, nearly 40% were unhealthy — slightly more than the roughly 36% that occurred on a scent-free control day. The trick seems to be to smell a food long enough to push through your initial craving. In one laboratory experiment, the researchers exposed about 250 people to either cookie or strawberry scents for varying lengths of time, then asked them which food they would be more likely to choose. Almost 45% of people who were exposed to the cookie scent for less than 30 seconds said they would choose the treat over strawberries — but only 22% of those exposed for longer than two minutes opted for the indulgent choice. (The reverse was true for people exposed to strawberry scent, but the difference was not statistically significant.) In another experiment, using the scents of pizza and apples, the researchers again found that lengthier exposures steered people away from the junk food option. This result suggests that a delicious smell can pique a [craving](http://time.com/4672261/cravings-what-to-eat/), but over time, it can also be enough to satisfy it, the researchers theorize. “We propose that this occurs because scents related to an indulgent food satisfy the reward circuitry in the brain, which in turn reduces the urge for actual consumption of indulgent foods,” they write. Next time you go out to eat, pause before you order. 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