If you’ve ever told yourself that you’d stick to eating just a handful of potato chips, or even just one packet for that matter but eaten way beyond that, know that you are not alone. They are simply addictive and hard to put aside. The reason your hand reaches back into the bag has much more to do than just the flavor. There are a few intangible factors involved too.

In studies conducted by the American Chemical Society it was found that people get addicted  to chips and similar tasting foods even when they are full because of the high ratio of fats and carbohydrates. These contents send a pleasing message to the brain that further activate the senses and make you feel tempted to eat more. This leads to a phenomena called Hedonic Hyperphagia. It is a scientific term for eating in excess for pleasure, rather than hunger.

Standard Potato Chips are best known for two things: salt and fat. Studies have also shown that eating salt triggers the release of dopamine, a chemical messenger that controls your brain’s pleasure center. The brain decodes the taste and then triggers the action. This is true for other foods with the same formula or recipe.

A lesser known fact is that chips are also addictive because of the crunchy sound. According to a recent Oxford University study, the crunchy sound signals our brain to eat more. Subconsciously, sound plays a big role in our overall enjoyment of everything we eat. When you think about it anyone who has eaten a stale chip knows that no matter how well it’s flavored, it loses most of its appeal when the crunchiness is gone. The same goes for other healthy snacks too. When biting into a crisp apple or a carrot, we associate the subsequent loud noise to its freshness, which makes it all the more appealing and appetizing. It won’t do much damage to your waistline or health, if you can’t put down that bag of baby carrots, but unfortunately the same cannot be said about potato chips.

To avoid binge eating, try listening to music through headphones while munching down on your favorite bag of chips. It will cancel out the sound of the crunch, which may make it easier to eat a reasonable portion. Although this isn’t a tested method, it might be worth a shot if you’ve been known to finish a bag chips all by yourself.

Giving it up all at once is not really an option as we’re accustomed to eating them very often. At best we can resort to solving this problem by having baked potato chips instead. They aren’t deep fried and don’t carry the health risk that comes with deep fried chips. As a matter of fact switching to baked foods in general would do you and your family wonders without having to make big compromises.

Surely, salty and fatty foods can be hard to resist, especially when they are reasonable priced, well marketed and easy to eat, but make sure you know when and how to curb your cravings.