Diet Rule 1: Never Shop When You’re Hungry

Here’s some advice from food marketing experts at the Cornell Food and Brand Lab: Eat something before you shop for food. Why? Because research conducted at the lab shows that people who shop for food when hungry tend to load up their carts with higher-calorie foods and more of them. HealthDay reports on the research, which included two experiments. In one, some of 68 participants were given crackers to appease their hunger. Then, the entire group of 68 was asked to “shop” in a simulated, online grocery store. The researchers found that hungry people tended to choose higher-calorie foods such as regular ice cream over low-fat ice cream. In a second study, the researchers followed 82 actual shoppers during the course of the day at times when they were most likely to be full or hungry. The researchers found once again that hungry shoppers bought more high-calorie products, compared to shoppers who weren’t hungry. Read more from HealthDay.