Avoid Distractions When Eating to Keep the Pounds Away
Avoid Distractions When Eating to Keep the Pounds Away – If you are one of those who needs to watch TV while eating, know that it might not be a good practice.
A new study reveals that distracted eating, such as watching TV, using a smartphone, or playing a computer game, can all prevent you from registering what you’ve eaten, and make you snack more later and thus contribute to weight gain.
To study the impact of distractions on eating, researchers at the University of Birmingham conducted a series of experiments. In the first experiment, researchers assigned 39 women of normal weight to one of 3 groups: high distraction, low distraction, and no distraction. Each group was given the same 400-calorie lunch and was asked to eat everything. The high-distraction group was asked to play a computer game while eating, and was told they would win money if they played well. The low-distraction group was told to just play the game while eating. The no-distraction group was asked to just eat their lunch.
In the afternoon, the participants were given access to a variety of snacks, and researchers assessed how much participants ate by weighing the snack plates before and after they ate.
Researchers found that participants in the high-distraction group ate 69% more snacks than the no-distraction group, while the low-distraction group ate 28% more.
A second experiment involved TV watching as a distraction while eating bread and soup. Researchers found that those who watched TV ate 19% more snacks than those who didn’t watch TV while eating.
In the third experiment, researchers used audio clips of music as the distraction, and had similar results. Researchers say that attentive eating can help people control their appetite. The study was published in the journal Appetite.
Category: News
