Wacky experiments explain eating habits
Posted: Apr 18th 2008 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson
Filed under: Food and Nutrition, General Health, Health in the Media, Healthy Habits, Diet and Weight Loss
About 50 food studies take place at any one time in Cornell University's food lab. Some of Brian Wansink's studies – critics call them "Happy Meal" studies – take place in the field. Regardless of location, all of Wansink's experiments yield interesting findings about how our subconscious influences what, and how, we eat. Check out these fun facts.
- Give a group of people at a bar the Super Bowl and a plate of chicken wings, and the subjects will eat 28 percent more when a waitress clears the bones from the table than when the bones pile up.
- You'll eat more M&Ms if they're available in 10 colors than if they come in seven because you'll crave the variety.
- Flowers at your table will make you eat more, even though the smell may clash with the smell of your meal.
- Use small plates, keep junk food in inconvenient places, avoid eating directly from a package, and be the last one at your table to start eating. You'll fare better nutritionally by practicing these healthy habits.
For more wacky food scoop, check out Wansink's book:
Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.
Tags: Brian, eating, experiments, food, Jacki Donaldson, JackiDonaldson, lab, mindless, subconscious, Wansink
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