So THAT’S what calories mean!

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In recent years, restaurants have received a lot of pressure to include their meals’ calorie contents on menus. But does this really change how much a customer will order? Does anyone even know what calorie content is measuring? Studies have shown that having calorie information actually leads people to order more food which, if anything, is affecting eating behavior in the wrong direction.

So how do we fix this? Researches from Texas Christian University, have tried to look into better tactics to change eating behavior when ordering food. One idea is putting contextual information on menus so that a person can easily see the impact of their food choices. In this case, researchers put information on how much exercise would be needed to burn the fat on menus to measure this. They tested this experimentally with 300 young adults from 18-30, randomly assigned to be in 1 of 3 conditions – a calorie-free menu, a menu that included calorie counts or a menu labeled with the minutes of walking needed to burn the calories in the food. Results showed that those participants with the exercise information on their menus ordered and consumed fewer calories than the other 2 conditions. Having calorie-free menus or menus with just calorie information did not affect food choices.

So maybe the key is not knowing how much we are eating but knowing how hard it would be to burn that off. Time for a menu change anyone?

Binge Eating Biology

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We often blame societal pressure, advertisements, magazines, and beauty campaigns for the fact that eating disorders are more common among women than men. It turns out, however, that biology may also be a culprit of this discrepancy, at least when it comes to binge eating. Although it is difficult, or even impossible, to nullify societal influences when examining eating disorders in humans, research findings from Michigan State University used rats to study sex differences outside the context of culture. Over two weeks, researchers offered rats food pellets versus vanilla frosting, and it turned out that the rate of binge eating “proneness” was up to six times higher in female rats than male rates. Kelly Klump, who headed this research, suggests that these findings may be indicative of a sex-related difference in the brain’s natural reward system. While we do have to be sensitive to the messages society sends to girls and women, at the same time, this research has some major implications for etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of eating disorders in women versus men.

How to raise a healthy eater

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With the goal of raising happy and healthy children, many parents strive to ensure that their kids are eating the right foods and in the right amounts. However, a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics found that parents’ intervening over what their children eat may not be helpful in maintaining a healthy weight. Restricting calorie intake of unhealthy foods, such as those high in sugar and fat, or encouraging overconsumption of a healthy food may inhibit adolescents’ ability understand and respond to their own hunger signals. Excessive control over a kid’s diet might actually result in an increase, rather than a reduction in weight! Instead, a better way to get kids to learn healthy eating habits is to provide them with a variety of healthy food choices (fruits and veggies!) and allow them to eat what they like in moderation.

An ‘Exercise’ in Healthy Eating

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As people are becoming more health conscious, it is difficult to decide whether we should focus our energy on changing our diet or boosting physical activity. This study out of Stanford University School of Medicine found that participants who engaged in both exercise and diet were able to achieve the nationally recommended goals of 150 minutes of exercise per week, eating five to nine servings of fruits and vegetable daily, and keeping saturated fat intake at less than 10 percent. So how can exercising make you eat better and eating better make you exercise more? When we change our diet and exercise one after the other, we may place more emphasis on the behavior that we changed first and feel less obligated to change the second behavior. When dieting and fitness habits are changed simultaneously, people are more likely to maintain their healthy behaviors over longer periods because dieting and exercise are of equal priority. Making healthy lifestyle choices does not have to be one or the other, and in this case, they should go hand-in-hand!

Shedding pounds in your sleep?

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With obesity being such a hot topic for clinicians, researchers, and the general public, everyone is trying to identify successful weight-loss techniques. The University of Pennsylvania just published a surprising finding that increasing hours of sleep may actually decrease the prevalence of obesity among adolescents. This longitudinal study  followed 1000 adolescents throughout their four years in high school, tracking sleep habits and weight. While sleep and BMI were only somewhat connected at the lower end of the BMI distribution, at the upper end, each additional hour of sleep was associated with a significant reduction in BMI. This relationship remained even when controlling for common correlates of obesity such as time watching TV and physical activity. The researchers suggest that at the age of 18, increasing sleep to 10 hours per night could result in a 4% reduction in adolescent obesity rates (BMI above 25kg/m2). That might not sound like a lot, but that would mean roughly 500,000 fewer overweight adolescents!

The Health Halo

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Organic products may make us feel healthier, but that’s not all they can influence. This awesome food study from Cornell University tested what is now known as the “health halo” to see if people would rate the SAME foods differently just based on an organic label versus a regular label. With Brian Wansink on the research team, it’s no surprise that the trick fooled everyone. Participants were willing to pay 23% more for “organic” cookies and yogurt. Even more surprising, the fake organic label even influenced nutritional perceptions, as participants rated “organic” cookies and yogurt as tasting lower in fat and calories and cookies and chips as more nutritious. The only people who the halo didn’t blind were those already savvy to nutrition and health, so if that isn’t you, make sure you make your next purchase based on its actual nutritional value and not the label!

Connie Guest Blogs: The more you remember the less you eat

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Connie Liu, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students, guest blogs again!:

Much like Angela’s blog post from December, this recent research claims that an attentive memory for what is eaten could help people eat less at their next meals. Previously, it has been shown that distractions can lead to eating more than necessary by disrupting a person’s ability to notice the pleasure of the food going in. By manipulating subject’s attention on food, the current studies found that enhancing memory of food intake reduced later food consumption. A vivid memory of a filling and satisfying meal might further inhibit future food intake. So to help you remember your meals and avoid overeating later, try to eliminate disruptions while you eat, including TV and computer!

Danni Guest Blogs: A Glass of Red Wine, OK

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Danni Ji, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students, guest blogs again!:

Past research has been unclear on the direct benefits of resveratrol, a compound found in red wine. Does it really have benefits on our health and prolong lifespan? Researchers have now confirmed that it indeed does, by improving energy production and overall health in cells via sirtuins (genes that promote mitochondrial function). Resveratrol seems to increase one’s life-span and well-being by enhancing metabolic activity and energy production in the mitochondria. So drink up, but only in moderation, of course, and keep it classy!

 

Nicole Guest Blogs: Too young to diet?

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This Guest Blog is from Nicole Praefke, one of Dr. T’s Health Psych students:

While it is obvious that childhood obesity is a rising problem in the United States, it is not so obvious what approach should be taken. There are parents that put their children on strict diets, there are parents that will do nothing because they believe their child will “grow out of it,” and there are many parents in between these two extremes. Dr. Keith Ayoob, as Liz Neporent points out in Childhood Obesity: Is 7 Too Young to Diet?, affirms that losing weight should always be about health and not weight especially in a child who is very vulnerable to acquiring body image issues. However, he emphasizes the importance of a child with obesity losing weight. Therefore, the most healthy way for a obese children to lose weight is to give them the healthy portions and make sure they get enough exercise through their play time. It is probably the case that this same suggestion applies to adults, so adults who strive to be healthy should eat right, control their portions, and exercise, but they should not extreme diet. Read more about this important debate here.

Connie Guest Blogs: Breaking Myths on Dieting and Obesity

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This Guest Blog Post is from Connie Liu, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students:

There have been countless statements made about obesity that society has believed in, when in reality, these “facts” are merely just myths not backed up by reliable medical evidence. One myth, which you may be familiar with, is that eating less or exercising more will lead to massive weight loss over time. This assumption is based on the idea that “3,500 calories are equal to one pound” (so if a person eats 100 calories less than normal every day for one year, they would mathematically lose at least 10 pounds by the end of the year). However, this equation was only used for short-term experiments and therefore, does not apply to long-term conditions. Another myth dieters believe in is that setting up attainable, gradual goals results in weight loss. However, studies have actually found that dieters who set the most ambitious goals lost more weight, which suggest that psychological attitudes play a prominent role in successful weight loss. These are just two out of several weight loss mythbusters. For more, you can read on over here.