Australian researchers say chocoholics may be able to reduce their intake of the sweets by watching fuzzy television screens.

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Flinders University researchers found while mental images of chocolate trigger the desire to eat some, random fuzzy pictures tend to help beat the cravings, the Mirror reported Tuesday.

"It is a tool people can use themselves, and not another one of those hard things people with cravings feel they have to do to deal with eating problems," said lead researcher Dr. Eva Kemps.

Her team asked 48 female undergraduates to visualize chocolate cake, bars, pudding, ice cream, drinks, mousse or brownies before looking at a blank or flickering computer screen. All the subjects felt their cravings drop when looking at the flickering images compared to the blank screen.

The technique could ultimately help people overcome cravings in all types of addictions, Kemps said.