Cheating and Eating: Do Cheat Days Help Us Diet?

Whether we're following a diet for a short time with a specific goal in mind or if we want to change our long-term eating habits, cutting out tempting high-calorie foods isn't always easy.

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Cheesy pizzas, juicy burgers and sweet cakes usually have to be pushed aside when we diet.

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That is, unless you introduce "cheat days" into your eating plan. The BBC calls these "scheduled breaks" in a diet — and the idea is that whatever diet you may be following the rest of the week, on one day you get to ditch those rules.

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People may see a cheat day as a chance to let loose — something to look forward to, or a reward for the hardship of six days of dieting.

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A quick look at the social media hashtag "cheatmeal" will show you how popular the idea of cheat days is.

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But what do experts say about cheat days? Are they deserved treats, or a quick way to ruin a perfectly good diet?

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The answer to that question is not universally agreed. Some small studies have suggested that a cheat day may actually help us improve our metabolism and burn calories.

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The suggestion is that, according to the Cleveland Clinic, "deviating from an eating plan helps temporarily raise your body's levels of leptin."

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Leptin is a hormone that tells us when we're full, and a temporary increase in leptin may help keep us from feeling hungry while we're dieting.

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But nutritionist Fiona Hunter told the BBC this idea isn't supported by "rigorous scientific research."

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And others say a cheat day can undo the progress made in the previous six days, or may even lead to us bringing more of these cheat foods back onto our plates on a regular basis.

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But according to dietitian Anna Taylor, calling foods "good" and "bad" isn't helpful, and can lead to poor eating behaviors.

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Instead, Hunter says, we should follow a diet that we can stick to for a long time — and that includes things we can enjoy without feeling we have "cheated."