Because people *do* take more than they need, in the short term. (But it levels out long-term, something that people tend to ignore.)
People do use more than they need at first just because they can. There's an adjustment curve when you go from living under strict rationing to unlimited access because your brain is going "holy fuck, I don't have to have to constantly be worried about every single thing I do??" It feels like finally being able to take a deep breath after being underwater.
I grew up under water rationing during an "Exceptional Drought" which is the most severe category of drought there is. When you go from getting four to five minutes in the shower for most of your life to having as long as you want, it's completely normal to take really long showers for a while, and then eventually you adjust to a more average length of time. It's like you're mentally making up for lost time.
There's a reason that people who are starving or severely dehydrated have to be put on a protocol in order to prevent refeeding syndrome (or whatever the water equivalent is called). The human instinct when you're staving and suddenly have access to food is to eat as much as possible, but when you've been starving, your body becomes unable to handle that amount of food and it can literally kill you. I know with water, it's because your body is trying to hold onto as much water as possible, so suddenly flooding the system can lead to hyperhydration, and I imagine with food it works the same way.
It's probably because, last I checked, there's scientific evidence that self-control is a limited resource. And being forced to push past your limits causes it to not work as well until you can recover. Like when you overuse a muscle until you injure yourself, and then you can't use it until it heals (or you do use it and then injure yourself worse)
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