Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
Health

How Eating 'Healthy' Food Can Make You Fat!

Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Dec, 2015 12:10 PM
    Eating too much is typically considered as one of the prime reasons for obesity but when people eat what they consider to be healthy food, they eat more than the recommended serving size because they associate "healthy" with less filling, say researchers, including one of Indian-origin.
     
    The findings suggest that the recent increase of healthy food labels may be ironically contributing to the obesity epidemic rather than reducing it.
     
    Raj Raghunathan from University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues utilised a multi-method approach to investigate the "healthy equal to less filling" intuition.
     
    The first study was conducted with 50 undergraduate students at a large public university and employed the well-established Implicit Association Test to provide evidence for an inverse relationship between the concepts of healthy and filling.
     
    The second study was a field study conducted with 40 graduate students and measured participants' hunger levels after consuming a cookie that is either portrayed as healthy or unhealthy to test the effect of health portrayals on experienced hunger levels.
     
    The third study was conducted with 72 undergraduate students in a realistic scenario to measure the impact of health portrayals on the amount of food ordered before watching a short film and the actual amount of food consumed during the film.
     
    The set of three studies converges on the idea that consumers hold an implicit belief that healthy foods are less filling than unhealthy foods.
     
    The researchers demonstrated that portraying a food as healthy as opposed to unhealthy using a front-of-package nutritional scale impacts consumer judgment and behaviour.
     
    Surprisingly, even consumers who said they disagree with the idea that healthy foods are less filling than unhealthy foods are subject to the same biases.
     
    The study was published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Stressed, Depressed Women Live Shorter

    Stressed, Depressed Women Live Shorter
    Providing a new possible link between the mind and body, a study says women under chronic stress have significantly lower levels of klotho, a hormone that regulates aging and enhances cognition.

    Stressed, Depressed Women Live Shorter

    Eat Nuts To Cut Cancer Risk: Study

    Eat Nuts To Cut Cancer Risk: Study
    Consuming nuts is associated with a decreased risk of certain types of cancer, but not Type-2 diabetes, says new study.

    Eat Nuts To Cut Cancer Risk: Study

    Canola Oil May Be Key To Healthy Lifestyle, Here Are The Top 5 Benefits

    Canola Oil May Be Key To Healthy Lifestyle, Here Are The Top 5 Benefits
    When you decide to stay fit and adopt a healthy diet, check out the cooking oil you're using as it might hold the key to a healthy lifestyle. 

    Canola Oil May Be Key To Healthy Lifestyle, Here Are The Top 5 Benefits

    Weight-loss Surgery Boosts Sex Life Too

    Weight-loss Surgery Boosts Sex Life Too
    The popular weight-loss surgery not only makes you look fit and healthy but can also bring spark back in your bedroom life, reveals a study.

    Weight-loss Surgery Boosts Sex Life Too

    How To Combat Your Hangover The Natural Way

    How To Combat Your Hangover The Natural Way
    Eat ginger and stay hydrated to get over your hangover naturally. Nutritionist Jacquie Newson doles out tips on how one can remain fine after a few drinks.

    How To Combat Your Hangover The Natural Way

    Here's How To Live Longer Without Cutting Calorie Intake

    Here's How To Live Longer Without Cutting Calorie Intake
    You may get a long and healthy life simply by balancing your protein and carbohydrate intake, without drastically cutting down your calorie intake.

    Here's How To Live Longer Without Cutting Calorie Intake