Can you really think yourself thin?

Scientists in the UK have proved that actively remembering your last meal suppresses appetite and reduces the desire to snack between meals.

The research has also shown that concentrating on your meal while eating makes you less likely to get hungry later on, apposed to watching TV or eating at your desk.

The findings suggest that dieters can technically teach themselves to be less hungry - and that techniques such as hypnotism and behavioural therapy could also help.

Scientists at the University of Birmingham devised a series of experiments to test the impact of memory on food and snacking.

One experiment involved 47 female students. Split into two groups, they were told they were taking part in a biscuit taste test, after they had eaten lunch.

Half of the students were then asked to write a detailed description of what they has eaten at lunch, while the other half were asked to describe their journey to the venue.

After the taste test – which had been a disguise to the true nature of the test – the women were invited to eat the remaining biscuits.

The students who had been asked to write a description of their lunch ate far fewer biscuits than those who had been asked to describe their journey to work. The females who had actively remembered the experience of eating their previously meal had eaten less when given the option to.

The hippocampus is the part of the brain involved in remembering recent meals.

Scientist are now considering the possibility that drugs could be designed to boost activity in the hippocampus and therefore suppress appetite.