Hungry shoppers make unhealthy choices
Attention dieters: If you want to maximize your chances of success, don’t go to the grocery store on an empty stomach.
So says a new JAMA Internal Medicine study from the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, where researchers investigate “the psychology behind what people eat and how often they eat it.?
The study authors – Brian Wansink and Aner Tal – asked 68 study subjects to fast for five hours, before reporting to the lab for the experiment. The subjects were asked to do their grocery shopping in a simulated online store. The e-market offered low-calorie items such as produce and lean chicken as well as high-calorie products such as candy and salty snacks. Each junk food item was displayed along with a more healthful alternative. (One difference between the simulated store and a real store: No prices were displayed.)
Half of the study subjects were offered Wheat Thin crackers to snack on before they logged into the store. These shoppers wound up putting about eight low-calorie items into their shopping carts, on average: 2.44 snacks, 1.56 dairy items, 2.81 grocery items and 0.95 meats. They also made about four high-calorie selections, on average.
The rest of the study subjects did their grocery shopping with rumbling tummies. These shoppers also selected about eight low-calorie items, on average: 2.84 snacks, 1.40 dairy items, 2.80 grocery items and 1.20 meats. But these shoppers also put an average of about six high-calorie foods into their shopping carts.
Would that difference hold up in real life? To find out, the Cornell researchers tracked purchases of 82 shoppers in a grocery store. Those who went shopping in the after-lunch time slot between 1 and 4 p.m. bought an average of 11.2 low-calorie items and 2.69 high-calorie items, for a ratio of nearly 4 to 1. In contrast, people who went shopping in the pre-dinner time slot between 4 and 7 p.m. – when they were more likely to be hungry – put an average of 8.21 low-calorie items in their baskets, along with 3.81 high-calorie items, for a ratio of nearly 2.5-to-1.
The results suggest that people should avoid making decisions about food when they’re hungry, the researchers concluded, saying: “Even short-term fasts can lead people to make more unhealthy food choices,? they wrote.
Mary Long walks down the canned soup aisle, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, at a Kroger Co. grocery store in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
An employee stocks the tortilla shelf, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, at a Kroger Co. grocery store in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
A customer shops in the bread aisle, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012, at a Kroger Co. grocery store in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)
IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR ALDI – Customers check out prices of the high quality fresh produce in the store after a ribbon cutting at one of nine ALDI grocery stores opening this week in the Houston area in Katy, TX on Monday, April 8, 2013. ALDI exclusive brand products and produce items are sold for up to 50 percent less than at traditional grocers. (Michael Stravato/ AP Images for ALDI)
choosing between apple and cake, some green shadows left