You eat more under stressful conditions.
Did you ever notice that you eat much more popcorn during the tense scenes at the movies? It’s a self-comforting thing to do, a response to stress. Researchers Brian Wasink and Koert van Ittersum at Cornell University recently discovered a parallel in a study done at one of the Hardee restaurants, an American fast-food chain offering items like bacon and cheddar fried potatoes. The Hardee restaurants feature a typical fast-food hectic ambiance: lots of bright lights and color, and fast, loud music – all forms of stress. (Here at Green Prophet we’ve wondered if stress makes us fat.)
To accommodate the study, the restaurant made over an isolated area to resemble a fine-dining experience. Low lights, white tablecloths, and relaxing jazzy music – but the same fast-food menu as offered in the regular area. Subjects under study were assigned to eat in either area. Expectations were that the slower-paced diners would order and eat more, but it turned out to be the opposite. We reported on Dr. Wasink’s previous study on overeating in this post.
The study found that the fine-diners spent more 4.7% more time time at the table but ate 86% of their orders, as compared to the 95% of the subjects in the regular room. In other words, people in the typical fast-paced room tended to eat faster and to eat more, consuming 949.2 calories compared to the slow eaters’ 775.3 calories. Evaluations given by the subjects showed that the fine-diners enjoyed their experience more and gave the food a higher rating.
“You create a nice atmosphere, people talk more, they concentrate less on the food,” said van Ittersum.
Try slow dining for a week, instead of nuking something and gulping it down. Set your good china on the table and light candles. Turn on some mellow music, and sit down to enjoy your meal in peace – even if you’re alone with a good book, doing this for your own pleasure. Do this for a week and then weigh yourself. Let us know how you liked it.
More on healthy – and unhealthy eating habits – from Green Prophet:
- Slow Down, You Eat Too Fast
- Do You Eat In Front Of The Computer?
- Repair Your Eating Habits In Time For Yom Kippur
Image of three lads cringing at the television via Shutterstock
Miriam also blogs at Israeli Kitchen.
