It’s not uncommon to reach for a snack while watching a late-night movie.
New findings from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab say that a certain genre of movie could make you eat more, however–by as much as 55 percent.
According to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine, people who watched “tearjerker” movies in movie theaters ate at least 28 percent more popcorn, with some movies, such as Solaris, causing people to eat twice as much.
However, the same applied to healthier snack options as well.
“Sad movies also lead people to eat more of any healthy food that’s in front of them,” says Brian Wansink, lead author of the study and author of Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life. “It’s a quick and mindless way of getting more fruit or veggies into your diet.”
According to the research, scientists initially came across these findings after dumpster diving for discarded popcorn boxes in movie theaters in the US during the Thanksgiving holiday. Popcorn boxes were sorted by movie type, including “tearjerker” movies such as Solaris and Love Story.
While happier movies such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Sweet Home Alabama resulted in lower popcorn counts–the people viewing these movies ate between 82 to 98 grams on average–those viewing sadder movies didn’t fare so well. According to researchers, their popcorn consumption increased by nearly 30 percent at the minimum, with the highest percentage recorded for the tearjerker movie Solaris.
This is particular worrying to researchers, as mindless snacking is one of the leading causes of weight gain.
“With action movies, people seem to eat to the pace of the movie,” says Aner Tal, Ph.D., co-author of the study and a researcher from Cornell. “But movies can also generate emotional eating, and people may eat to compensate for sadness.”
However, not all news was bad with this study. Researchers also found that people are more likely to binge eat healthier snacks as well, provided they’re within arm’s reach. Conversely, keeping any snack further than reaching distance discouraged movie goers from eating more, suggesting these habits aren’t hard to minimize.
Wansink recommends following these findings to minimize snacking both at home and in movie theaters.
“Keep snacks out of arms reach, ideally leave them in the kitchen and only bring to the couch what you intend to eat,” says Wansink. “It’s easier to become slim by design than slim by willpower.”
What This Means For You
It’s common to snack while watching a movie–but if you’re watching an emotional movie, make sure to keep your eating habits in check. To minimize the amount of calories you eat, try having healthier snacks nearby, such as a bowl of carrots or grapes. For a cold turkey solution, however, just keep snacks more than an arm’s reach away.
Readers: What do you snack on while watching a movie?
Source:
Sad Movies are Fattening (Study) – ScienceDaily.com
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