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If you want to stop eating junk food, just take a long look in the mirror. Unhealthy food tastes worse when you see yourself eating it!
Scientists found people who ate unhealthy food found it less tasty if they looked at themselves eating it in the mirror. Looking at yourself eating a calorie filled cheeseburger or sloppy slice of pizza makes you much more aware that you should be eating a healthier option.
The study, which aims to find ways to encourage healthy eating practices and fight obesity, showed that the presence of a mirror in the dining room lowers the perceived tastiness of unhealthy food. The findings come from taste tests conducted on 185 undergraduate students. Researchers asked the participants to choose between a chocolate cake and a fruit salad and to rate the food’s tastiness.
Some students ate the food in a room with a mirror, while others were in a mirrorless room. Results show that those who selected the chocolate cake perceived it less tasty in the room with a mirror, while the presence of the mirror had no effect on those who ate fruit salad.
“A glance in the mirror tells people more than just about their physical appearance,” said lead researcher Ata Jami from the University of Central Florida. “It enables them to view themselves objectively and helps them to judge themselves and their behaviours in the same way that they judge others.”
According to the study, people were pushed by the mirrors to compare and match their behaviours with social standards of correctness. The presence of the mirror enhanced the discomfort of the failure to follow standards, which, in the study is eating healthy, and it particularly led the participants to reduce consumption of unhealthy food.
In addition, the fact that the individual selected the food makes him or her feel responsible for his or her own choice. However, researchers noted that the presence of the mirror did not induce any discomfort to those who ate healthy food.
Agencies/Canadajournal
