London: People who believe themselves to be “food addicts” eat less, claims a new study which found that the perception of being a foodie makes them concerned about their eating behaviour.
Obesity is often attributed to an addiction to food and many people believe themselves to be “food addicts.” However, until now no studies have looked at whether believing oneself to be a food addict influences how much we eat, researchers said.
Researchers from University of Liverpool in the UK examined the impact of changing participants’ personal food addiction beliefs on eating behaviour.
In two separate studies, women completed a series of computer tasks about food. On completion, they were given bogus feedback on their performance which indicated that they had either high-, low-, or average-levels of food addiction.
Their intake of unhealthy foods (chocolate and crisps) was then measured in a taste test.
Participants who were told they scored highly in food addiction went on to consume fewer calories than those who were told they had a low or average score, researchers said.
Participants who were told they scored highly in food addiction reported greater concern about their eating behaviour, they said.
This, in turn, reduced the amount of time they spent tasting the foods during the taste test.
“Our research found that participants who believed themselves to be ‘food addicts’ reduced the amount of time they were exposed to unhealthy foods and ate less as a result,” said Helen Ruddock from University of Liverpool.
“This appears to be because the perception of being a food addict made them concerned about their eating behaviour,” said Ruddock.
“Our study is first to show that personal beliefs about food addiction can influence how much we eat,” she added. The findings were published in the journal Obesity.
