A Memory Hack to Help You Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Source: Psychology Today

When my son was in college, one of his classmates developed scurvy. Yes, you read that right: scurvy—the disease we associate with 18th-century sailors. But it turns out that if you go two or three months with little to no vitamin C, it's still possible to get it.

I should note that most of the students at this college study computer science or game design—not the healthiest group in my experience—so I wasn’t shocked. Concerned, but not shocked.

Luckily, most people in developed countries don’t need to worry about scurvy. However, the majority of us eat far fewer fruits and vegetables than experts recommend—five portions per day. And that increases our risk for a plethora of health problems, including the big ones like heart attacks, strokes, and some cancers.

How bad is it? In Europe, less than 15% of adults meet the guidelines. Worse yet, about one-third of those surveyed said that nary a fruit or vegetable crosses their lips on a daily basis.

Feeling Gourd and Looking Gourd

Source: ”Pumpkin-butternut-squash-vegetables" (#72696)/by PublicDomainPictures/Pixabay

The Memory Hack: Strong Effects of Simple Plans

Fortunately, there’s a deviously simple strategy for upping your intake of fruits and veggies. And it’s free. Just make “if-then” plans (or as psychologists call them, “implementation intentions”).

The basic format is “If X, then Y.”

More specifically, you just think, “If situation X occurs (the cue), then I will do Y (the response).” For example, “If I’m hungry after my paltry lunch, then I’ll eat an apple.”

The beauty of this strategy is that it reduces the need for willpower. Instead of having to remember your goal as you go about your busy day, you’ve offloaded the task to the environment. You’ve formed a hot link in memory so that when the cue appears (for instance, a rumbly tummy), the response comes to mind automatically (eat an apple).

This method basically creates an instant habit. And we all know how important habits are for reaching personal goals.

One Important Specification

My colleagues and I wondered if the cue had to come first. So, we also tested a plan that contained the same words, but in the opposite order. That format was, “I’ll respond Y if X happens,” for example, “I’ll eat an apple if I’m hungry after lunch.”

It didn’t work. Order matters. When you encounter the cue—a feeling, a time, or a situation—that’s what triggers the response from the depths of memory.

A New Review from Norwegian Researchers

We’ve known about the power of if-then plans for decades. I even had a colleague who used the strategy to potty-train his kids: “If I have a pee-pee feeling, then I run to the potty!” (It worked.)

But a recent meta-analytic review makes a few more contributions to our knowledge, especially when it comes to improving our diets.

Norwegian researchers Sanne Karlsen Melum and Torsten Martiny-Huenger wanted to test two new questions about the effects of if-then plans on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

The first question was whether the strategy works when the if-then plans are strictly defined.

The interventions had to have three specific components: 1) a cue in the environment, 2) a response, and 3) a clear link in the plan so that the cue jump-starts the response.

An example would be writing this plan out: “If I see potato chips at lunch, then I’ll buy a banana instead.”

And so, they only included studies that used that format.

The second question was whether the strategy is effective in real-life settings—with all their messiness and interruptions—and not just in the lab. Therefore, the researchers only examined applied studies—for instance, interventions where participants kept food diaries in their everyday lives.

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Answers From the Meta-Analysis

So, what did they find?

For these real-life studies that used strictly defined plans, the if-then memory hack worked. They found that daily fruit and vegetable consumption increased by 30% of a portion. That’s like half a banana or 1/3 of a cup of cooked spinach.

That may not sound like much, but every bit (and bite) helps.

Also, the gains lasted up to two years! Anyone who’s tried to change their eating habits knows that’s a huge length of time.

Try It Yourself

Figure out your own barriers to eating more fruits and vegetables. Then, use if-then plans to overcome them.

Let’s say you’re busy (and who isn’t?). Form a plan that’ll make meal prep easier. For example, “If I’m in the produce aisle, then I’ll grab pre-cut veggies.”

Remember that the magic ingredients in the plan are setting up a cue that will trigger your action and then linking them with an “if-then” statement.

Note, though, that you can instead state it as a “when-then” plan if that’s more natural—or realistic. For instance, I know it’s not “if,” but “when” I want a crunchy snack while I watch true crime shows at 8 p.m.

“If I’m staring into space, then I’ll eat a carrot.”

Source: “Woman thinking about reward” ( #506711374)/by Ismagilov/iStock

Bonus: A Few Nuances to Optimize the Planning Trick

How should you use if-then plans? Results from a 2025 review showed three features that increase their effectiveness.

1. Be sure to use the strict “if-then” format. Variations that stray from this don’t work as well. That is, some planning strategies instead have the person list the target location and time for the behavior. However, without the if-then hot link, the cue doesn’t automatically spark the action.
2. Mentally rehearse the plan at least once—though anything beyond that doesn’t help more.
3. Save this strategy for personal goals you genuinely care about. It’s more effective for those. For instance, it’ll work better for “take my blood pressure medicine every day” than for “be the last player standing in Fortnite“—unless you prioritize gaming goals over health goals, which may be what happened in the scurvy case.

Thankfully, most of us won’t get scurvy. But we could stand to eat more produce. Why not give if-then plans a try? Then you can save your precious brainpower for other hard things, like remembering why you walked into a room.

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