Can Mental Tricks Manage Pain? Day 2

Food fantasies Thinking about food—whether it’s warm, gooey chocolate brownies or a juicy roast beef meal—has been shown to help alleviate pain from menstrual cramps, migraines, and more. A study conducted by University of Wisconsin researchers found that fantasizing about a favorite food took away some of the pain associated with plunging a hand in icy water (a pretty painful process used in research). Chocolate was the favorite food fantasy, preferred by 32% of participants in the study, followed by a roast dinner (31%), pasta (14%), pizza (14%) and fruit (4%).