Dominant hand makes you overeat

• April 26, 2024

Most people have the habit of eating without thinking about the amount of food they eat, or how satisfied they are.

According to the magazine's online publicationPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, a study conducted by the University of Southern California showed that people who eat a snack with their non-dominant hand decrease around 30% of the total consumption, compared to those who use their dominant hand.

"If people alter the physical sequence of the action when they eat in automatic, it's a way to gain some control," he said. David Neal , former assistant professor of psychology at USC at the time of the study.

The information published in CNN , explains that, for the study, the researchers gave each of the participants a bag of popcorn (some were popcorn prepared a week before and others made an hour before). They sat in a dark movie theater and saw several breakthroughs while their bags of popcorn were within reach. In the questionnaires, they indicated whether they usually ate popcorn at the movies or not.

In weighing the bags, researchers weighed it was found that people who indicated that they regularly eat popcorn during a movie show, ate 63% of the bag, regardless of whether the popcorn was fresh or old.

For the final study, he asked the participants to use their non-dominant hand if they chose to eat popcorn inside a movie theater.

The amount of old popcorn consumed by regular lovers decreased by around 30%; For its part, the amount of fresh popcorn consumed was minimally reduced.

The researchers concluded that people's habits are altered when they are asked to perform tasks with their non-dominant hand .

Neal suggests trying to change the environment that triggers your eating in automatic, like switching to smaller plates and utensils to eat less, store the junk food on shelves out of reach, or try to eat with your left hand (if you're right handed ) or with your right hand (if you're left handed ); however, point out that this advice may not work if you are ambidextrous.

Video Medicine: 10 Amazing Ways To Stop Overeating (April 2024).