Cognitive reappraisal of food craving: Generalization and best implementation strategies

Food reappraisal is a cognitive strategy used to regulate the desire to eat by changing how one thinks about food. While prior research has demonstrated that food reappraisal can modulate food cravings, it remains unclear whether these effects generalize to untrained food stimuli and broader motivational states such as hunger. Additionally, the relative effectiveness of commonly used reappraisal strategies is not well understood. To address these gaps, the current study examined transfer effects of a single session of food reappraisal training aimed at either downregulating or upregulating the desire to eat. Healthy participants (N = 72) were randomly assigned to downregulation (n = 38) or upregulation (n = 34) conditions and applied different reappraisal strategies to their most craved foods. Strategies involved altering food perception, using interoceptive imagery, and focusing on the negative and positive consequences of eating or not eating. Each participant applied all four strategies, which were varied across food stimuli in a within-subjects design. Results showed that downregulation training significantly reduced the desire to eat both trained and untrained foods and decreased hunger levels. In contrast, upregulation training increased hunger levels but did not increase the desire to eat, likely due to regression to the mean. Strategy comparisons, conducted on an exploratory basis, revealed that altering food perception (e.g., imagining food as disgusting or appetizing) was the most effective in modulating the desire to eat during training. These findings provide evidence for both near and far transfer effects of food reappraisal training and underscore its potential applicability for modulating eating behaviors. Further research is required to assess long-term effects, safety, and applicability across diverse populations.