If Not Noseclips, Dark Sunglasses?
In this interesting video about losing weight, Paul McKenna, a British hypnotist, recreates a study in which people ate food blindfolded. In the study, they ate one-quarter less when blindfolded than when not blindfolded. This doesn’t impress me; nothing is stopping the blindfolded subjects from eating more at later meals. But it makes me wonder how not seeing your food affects flavor-calorie learning. It might make it stronger (you’re less distracted) or it might make weaker (the sight of food acts like glue to strengthen flavor-calorie associations — there is actually evidence for something like this).
While wearing noseclips while eating with others is too weird, wearing dark sunglasses might not be. And what about listening to music (for distraction) while you eat? My calorie learning experiments are continuing; eventually I should be able to test these possibilities.
Thanks to Gary Skaleski.
March 12th, 2008 at 4:26 am
I would think distraction would cause you to consume more, since you’re not paying attention to how much you eat.
March 12th, 2008 at 6:21 am
I meant: what would be the effect of distraction on the flavor-calorie learning that takes place at every meal?
March 13th, 2008 at 10:00 am
It’s funny this shows up with an ad for the book on “Mindless Eating.”
My recent experiences with SLD and lo-carb coupled with long experience with eating and various shortterm attempts at dieting have completely convinced me that Taubes is right when he says that hunger is physiological, not psychological. Once you’ve decided the exact amount you are going to eat or drink — a nose-clipped protein shake, say — and treat it as fuel, you aren’t going to consume more or less.
I can now break a single potato chip into a dozen or more pieces and savor each little piece if I want to. I think I can do this enjoyably because lo-carbing means my body is no longer associating that taste sensation with a forthcoming sugar rush which it can hardly wait for. And I’m sure that SLD has also helped to break a flavor-calorie association although I think perhaps the important thing is breaking the flavor-sugar rush association. I’m not sure how to test this.
March 14th, 2008 at 10:01 am
D’oh. Looks like I better up my flaxseed dosage.
March 14th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
It sounds like more distraction = more mindless eating:
“Where you are, what you’re doing, and who you’re with all affect how many calories you’re likely to consume. When you’re in a restaurant with low lighting, you tend to eat more. You also eat incrementally more as the number of people at the dining table increases, and you’ll eat more if you’re watching television or reading the newspaper. According to Wansink, eating in front of the TV can increase your consumption as much as 60 percent, depending on how long you sit there watching.“