We have always heard that shopping while you are hungry makes you buy tons of food, but a new study claims that hungry shoppers in fact buy more high-calories and more unhealthy snacks. And this hungry shopping, according to the researchers, messes up with your whole diet, especially if you are buying the food for the whole week.
It turns out that it’s best to go to the grocery in the early afternoon or in the morning after meal, so that we can choose healthier foods for us and for the whole family. Researchers at the Cornell University conducted an experiment in which 68 paid participants had to avoid eating for five hours. Then they were asked to shop in a simulated, online grocery store where they could either choose high calorie items such as sweets, red meat and crisps, or low calorie foods such as fruits and vegetables and chicken breasts. To make the results even more reliable, the researchers placed high calorie foods right next to pretty similar low calorie items, so that the difference was more obvious. Prices however were not included. And half of the people were given crackers before shopping.
So, what happened? Participants who were feeling full from the crackers bought low calorie items, while those who were hungry opted for higher calorie foods. During a second study some participants were tracked while shopping at an actual supermarket after lunch, and others – right before dinner. The results showed that both groups – of hungry and of full people, bought averagely the same amounts of food. But the hungry shoppers chose a large number of higher calorie foods. This is quite alarming for those who are on a diet, fast for religious purposes, or are just too busy to have several meals during the day. It turns out that the more you are fasting to lose weight, the higher chance to ruin your whole diet when picking your groceries.
Researchers recommend avoiding staying hungry – skipping meals is sometimes inevitable, but we can at least have some little snacks such as apples or string cheese.
