It appears that overeating problem can be solved very easily – you simply need to start eating with your left hand. A new research has been trying to examine the effects of certain eating habits promoted unconsciously. In the first experiment, the researchers asked their 98 participants to see some films and handed out boxes with popcorn. One group of people received a fresh part of popcorn and another – a part of popcorn made one week ago.
It was found that all the participants ate the same amount of food, whether it was fresh, or not. Then participants were invited to the conference and were also given fresh and not popcorn. Under these circumstances, they ate more fresh popcorn. Researchers believe that this happened because people were eating consciously this time, without watching a film at the same time.
The second experiment involved 89 people. They were asked to eat popcorn using a dominant or non-dominant hand. The researchers wanted to see what impact it will have on their eating characteristics. It appeared that those participants, who ate with their non-dominant hand ate less at this time than they usually eat in the cinema – no matter whether the food was fresh or not. In addition, people who ate with the non-dominant hand, did this more slowly than usual.
People think that their eating behavior mostly depends on the flavor of the food – nobody likes cold, damp, one week old popcorn. However, we don’t pay any attention to our certain eating habits that steal our attention and make us eat food which is not really delicious. Besides, we can even eat the same amount of food, no matter if it’s fresh or old.
Why should you change your chronic habits that contribute to unconscious eating?
Previous studies have shown that eating in front of the TV, we tend to eat more because we eat without thinking. Imagine, you are invited to a good movie, take a bucket of ice cream from refrigerator and you eat all of them to the bottom without feeling no taste. Do the experiment – eat with the left hand (or right if you’re left-handed) and see if you feel how your food tastes and if you manage to stop before you see the end.