The scientists from the University of Southern California have established that people overeat, even if the dish seems tasteless to them.
The specialists have conducted a test aimed at showing what makes people overeat. They gave the people, who were going to see a movie in the cinema, a bucket of freshly cooked popcorn or a bucket of popcorn prepared a week before. The people, who usually do not eat popcorn in the cinema, would eat less of the old popcorn because of its bad taste.
But those, who used to take popcorn during all the sessions, ate the same amount of fresh and old popcorn. So, the taste does not play a key role and the whole thing is in a habit. This discovery may shed light on why some people eat even when they are not hungry.
The head of the research, David Neal, says that when we regularly eat certain foods in a particular environment, our brain associates the food with the environment. Therefore, if the conditions remain the same, we will continue eating.
To test this theory, popcorn was given to the control group, which had to watch videos in the conference hall. Here, the taste came to the foreground even among the fans of popcorn.
In addition, when the volunteers ate the popcorn with the other hand (right-handed people used their left hand, and left-handed people would eat with their right hand), they ate less popcorn.
These findings will help us fight against obesity.
Source of the image: Photl.
