The 'Freakonomics of food'

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Public release date: 22-Nov-2006

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/cfb-tfo_1112206.php

Contact: Cuellar

src6@...

Cornell Food & Brand Lab

The 'Freakonomics of food'

The good news behind our mindless eating

Do you hate Brussels sprouts because your mother did " Does the size of

your plate determine how hungry you feel " Why do you actually overeat at

healthy restaurants "

" You can ask your smartest friend why he or she just ate what they ate,

and you won’t get an answer any deeper than, 'It sounded good,' " says

Wansink, Ph.D.), author of " Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than

We Think, " and Professor and Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

Dubbed the " Freakonomics of food " by the Canadian Broadcasting

Commission, Mindless Eating, uses hidden cameras, two-way mirrors, and

hundreds of studies to show why we eat what and how much we eat. " The

unique thing about his work is that it cleverly answers everyday

questions about food and shows translates them into Good News – how we

can improve it, " said Seth , Ph.D., a psychology professor at the

University of California at Berkeley.

Take how much we eat. Wansink claims we typically don’t overeat because

we are hungry or because the food tastes good. Instead we overeat

because of the cues around us – family and friends, packages and plates,

shapes and smells, distractions and distances, cupboards and containers.

Consider your holiday ice cream bowl. If you spoon 3 ounces of ice cream

onto a small bowl, it will look like a lot more than if you had spooned

it into a large bowl. Even if you intended to carefully follow your

diet, the larger bowl would likely influence you to serve more. This

tricks even the pros.

During one holiday party, Wansink and his Lab put this to the test by

inviting 63 distinguished nutritional science professors at a leading

university to an holiday ice cream social. When they arrived, they were

given either medium-size 17-ounce bowls or large-size 34-ounce bowls.

" Even though these people think, sleep, lecture and study nutrition, "

Wansink said, " They still served themselves and ate 31 percent more ice

cream (106 more calories) if they had been given a big bowl. "

If experts can’t control mindless eating, what help is there for the

rest of us " Here’s the good news reassures Wansink, " As Mindless Eating

shows, what we eat and how much we eat – is so automatic, the easiest

changes are those that are smallest. "

At a holiday buffet " Use a smaller plate, or put only two items on your

plate during any given trip to the table. Return as many times as you

like, but only take two items each time.

Meticulous studies outline why we are consistently influenced, but they

also provide the silver lining. If we know that we tend to pour 28% more

into short wide glasses than in tall thin ones, the secret is simply

getting rid of the short glasses.

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More on the topic can be found at www.MindlessEating.org, which also

shows photos of studies and top tips for the holidays – and beyond.

--

ne Holden, MS, RD < fivestar@... >

" Ask the Parkinson Dietitian " http://www.parkinson.org/

" Eat well, stay well with Parkinson's disease "

" Parkinson's disease: Guidelines for Medical Nutrition Therapy "

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