In today’s world, foods which evoke our temptation to eat are readily available just about everywhere. Because of this, people tend to eat convenient foods such as potato chips, chocolates, and bacon double cheeseburgers, even when they are not hungry without realizing how such habits – based on the availability of food – can affect their health.

Now, a study at Cornell Food and Brand Lab has found that eating when you are not hungry is actually bad for your health. The tendency of today’s consumers to eat when they are not hungry might be less advantageous for health than eating when they are, as per the paper published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research.

For the study, the team recruited 45 undergrads. They asked the participants to rate their level of hunger and to consume a meal rich in carbohydrates. Once the participants consumed the meal, the researchers constantly kept their blood glucose levels monitored at regular intervals and measured how the meal affected the participants’ health.

Results showed that those who were moderately hungry before the meal had lower blood glucose levels after they had the meal compared to those who were not particularly hungry before they had the meal. This suggests that it might be healthier for individuals to eat when they are moderately hungry than when they are not.

Blood glucose levels tend to rise after having meals that are rich in carbohydrates, the team noted; and it is generally good for health if blood glucose levels rise by a relatively small amount because high levels of blood glucose is damaging to the body’s cells.

Hat Tip: Cornell University Food and Brand Lab [Featured Image: Image Point Fr/ShutterStock]

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