Why do we eat comfort food when sadIJ
A new study has demonstrated that people’s attraction to comfort foods was based on the relationship they had with the one who had first prepared the dish for them and would eat it when they felt low or sad. The research conducted by University at Buffalo found that social factors influenced a person’s choices and eating behaviour and some of the participants defined comfort food as a healthy food choice, whereas for the others it was starchy and fatty. Shira Gabriel, a UB psychologist, asserted that as long as children had positive associations with the person who cooked the comfort food, they would be drawn to the food in times of isolation. The research gave an insight to a unique method through which people could feel socially connected by eating comfort foods. She also said that as a threatened sense of belonging was related to mental and physical health risks, it was important to learn how that vulnerability could be managed.
Small plate, smaller portions a myth
If you thought you can trick yourself into eating less if you use a smaller plate, you are wrong, warns a new study. The study involving 162 girls aged 14 to 18 found that the trick does not work for everyone, particularly over-weight teenage girls. “It has been assumed that overweight or obese consumers are more likely to underestimate the size of a food serving and accordingly overeat — particularly when the food is presented on a large dinner plate or in a large container,” said professor lance Bauer from the University of Connecticut. “For this reason and others, it is frequently recommended that these consumers use smaller plates to defeat the illusion,” he added.
Multi-tasking is bad for your brain
Multi-tasking can hamper your performance and may even damage your brain, claim researchers from Stanford University. The team found that people who are involved with multi-tasking cannot pay attention and recall information than those who complete one task at a time. The Stanford team compared groups of people based on their tendency to multitask and their belief that it helps their performance. They found that heavy multi-taskers were actually worse at multitasking than those who like to do a single thing at a time. The frequent multi-taskers performed worse because they had more trouble organising their thoughts and filtering out irrelevant information. “Multi-tasking reduces your efficiency and performance because your brain can only focus on one thing at a time,” the authors wrote.