Simple reminders of God make us crave junk food, according to new psychology research

Encountering subtle reminders of God in daily life can make people more likely to choose unhealthy junk foods over natural options. A recent study published in Psychology & Marketing suggests that spiritual cues create a subconscious belief in divine healing, which lowers a person’s dietary self-control. These findings highlight how psychological safety nets can unintentionally encourage risky eating habits in consumer decision-making.

Religion and spirituality shape human behavior across cultures. Nearly 40 percent of Americans pray to God for health improvements or disease cures. Yet temporary exposure to religious symbols can influence choices independently from a person’s deeply held institutional faith.

This phenomenon is known as “God salience.” It refers to the momentary activation of God-related thoughts triggered by environmental cues, ranging from printed currency to religious architecture. Researchers aim to isolate this momentary activation of spiritual concepts from deep-seated religious devotion.

Lead researcher Ali Gohary of La Trobe University and his colleague Hean Tat Keh of Monash University wanted to explore how these momentary spiritual reminders affect everyday food choices. They focused on ultra-processed foods, which are industrially formulated items often loaded with additives. Examples include baked goods, salty snacks, and flavored drinks.

Nutrition scientists classify foods by their level of processing through a standard nutritional framework. Heavily altered items dominate the modern global diet owing to their taste, affordability, and convenience. Medical professionals frequently warn that high consumption of these products leads to obesity and cardiovascular diseases.

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Consumers generally recognize that ultra-processed foods are detrimental to their bodily health. This awareness creates a mental conflict when an individual feels tempted to eat something highly indulgent. The researchers drew upon compensatory control theory to understand how people resolve this conflict. This psychological framework proposes that people seek external sources of order, such as a governing deity, when they face physical vulnerability or internal psychological stress.

In the context of symbolic healing, interactions with the divine can shift a person’s focus toward faith-based recovery. Spiritual individuals frequently rely on non-medical mechanisms like prayer or ritual to address illness. The research team suspected that reminders of God might reduce a consumer’s worry about the health risks of processed foods.

If an individual feels that a higher power will heal negative consequences, they might indulge more freely. A person might acknowledge that a certain snack is bad for their body but feel shielded by a divine safety net. Gohary and Keh tested their ideas through a series of six experiments.

In their first laboratory test, the researchers asked one group of college students to read Bible verses. Another group read neutral sentences about everyday objects. Next, the participants viewed images of plain baked potatoes and highly processed hash browns.

The researchers found that reading religious texts increased the students’ willingness to eat the hash browns. Their desire for the natural baked potatoes remained unchanged. This early test hinted that spiritual cues specifically alter how people evaluate foods with known health risks.

To see if this effect occurs outside of conscious awareness, the team used an implicit auditory test involving background music. Online participants listened to short clips from a Whitney Houston holiday track. Half heard the religious carol “Silent Night,” while the other half heard the secular tune “Deck the Halls.” After listening to the audio, the participants completed a hypothetical grocery shopping task.

Those who listened to the religious song chose a higher number of processed items, such as strawberry-flavored water and sweetened cereal. The listeners exposed to the secular song favored natural spring water and plain rolled oats. The results confirmed that divine reminders shape preferences even when the cues operate subtly in the background.

The team then moved the research into a real-world setting. They conducted a field experiment inside a large administrative office building in Iran. Some participants were approached immediately after the broadcast of the Islamic call to prayer. Others were approached two hours later when the spiritual cues had faded.

The participants chose between natural dates and processed date truffles. People were much more likely to select the sugary date truffles right after hearing the prayer call. The religious broadcast briefly shifted their preferences away from the natural, unprocessed fruit.

The researchers wanted to understand the psychological mechanism driving these choices. They instructed online participants to write either about God or about their daily routine. Afterward, the respondents completed the grocery shopping task and answered questions about their emotional states and spiritual beliefs.

The results pointed directly to perceived healing. Exposure to spiritual thoughts made people feel that God would repair health damage after it occurred. The researchers ruled out other possible explanations, noting that general hope or optimism did not yield the same dietary shift. Only the specific belief in divine restoration pushed consumers toward the unhealthy choices.

A sequential psychological process took place during the experiment. Thoughts of God increased a person’s perceived divine presence, which boosted healing expectations and ultimately led to poor food choices. The respondents offset their dietary guilt by delegating their physiological safety to an external agent.

Not all processed items carry a strong junk food stigma, so the team tested a boundary condition using peanut butter. They created two imaginary product descriptions. One version added cookie dough and chocolate chips, framing it as an unhealthy choice. The other highlighted whey protein and sea salt, framing it as a healthy option.

Participants watched either a video of a preacher or a video of an oil painter. The religious video only increased the appeal of the unhealthy peanut butter. When the food appeared healthy, the dietary threat was low, eliminating the psychological need for divine protection.

Finally, the researchers explored how the perceived predictability of divine intervention alters daily eating habits. They asked internet participants to read a fabricated scientific article. Some versions of the text claimed that God’s influence on human health is highly consistent and predictable. Other versions described God’s actions in the world as completely mysterious and unknowable. A control group read about entirely secular health outcomes without any mention of a higher power.

Readers who encountered the predictable version of God chose more processed foods. When divine intervention appeared completely unpredictable, people exhibited more dietary caution. The reliance on God as a safety net requires a degree of faith in consistent rules.

The researchers note that these results carry practical implications for public health messaging and food marketing. Faith-based health initiatives often merge nutritional education with spiritual teaching to help communities combat obesity. Public health campaigners might unintentionally undermine their goals if religious framing makes followers feel immune to the consequences of bad eating habits.

For food manufacturers, using spiritual themes in advertising could skew how shoppers evaluate bodily risks. Places of worship might also consider replacing the sugary treats often served at community gatherings with natural alternatives. Ensuring that retail environments play secular music could also represent a simple intervention for promoting healthier choices.

Still, the study focuses predominantly on monotheistic belief systems. Conceptions of the divine vary widely across global cultures. Some religions emphasize a punishing deity rather than a benevolent, healing figure. A wrathful spiritual framework might induce restraint rather than indulgence.

Researchers must explore how polytheistic or non-deistic traditions influence consumer restraint. Future investigations could also link regional religious density to everyday grocery scanner data. Analyzing physical purchases could help experts verify how spiritual environments alter long-term consumption trends on a broader scale.

The study, “God’s Presence in the Aisle: How God Salience Encourages Preference for Ultra‐Processed Foods,” was authored by Ali Gohary and Hean Tat Keh.