I admit it. I love cheese. And, that’s a real problem. Because I can buy a pound of cheese for $4, which is about 1/3 cheaper than buying two 8 oz slabs and 50% cheaper than buying precut cheese (not the slices, which is even still dearer.)
So, if I grab the slab while watching my favorite TV shows, I can end up devouring the entire slab. Which is why I have taken to cutting each slab into 8 chunks, putting them into a plastic bag, and storing them, immediately when I come home from the grocers. Now, I only grab 2 ounces of cheese. (OK, I go back upstairs and grab another one after a while. But, that’s 4 ounces and not 16!)
It turns out this behavior is not atypical. Dr. Thomas Brunner (Bern University, Switzerland) studied this behavior among 20-somethings (Appetite, December 2013, in press as of this writing). (Note: all folks were of normal body-mass index range.) For one test, 60 women were divided among three groups. One group was presented unwrapped candy, while the other two groups had wrapped candies. One wrapped candy group was required to use a trash bowl nearby and the other group had to walk to put the wrapper in the trash. Not surprisingly, the unwrapped candy was devoured- the users average 5.5 candies apiece, while the wrapped group average 3.6 candies. There was no affect due to the placement of the trash. (Of course, I would have held the wrappers until I was ready to leave, and then dumped them all in the trash.)
A second set employed 64 test subjects, divided among three groups- one provided wrapped candies and the other two unwrapped. If the candy were unwrapped, the users had to use tongs to get their candy in one group or their fingers for the other group. Using tongs or wrappers lowered the candy consumption.
The third test employed 101 subjects. Here the choices were chocolate or (organic) apricots. But, the discriminating factor that led to lower use was whether one had to use tongs- not whether the food was sweet and tasty or good for you.
Obviously, making it more difficult for us to snack between meals works wonders!
Okay, then if making snacking more difficult will help me stop consuming so many snacks, I’ll have to lock my daughter–who bakes most of the sweets at our place–and her wonderful fudgey yummy calorie-laden bars and cookies–up. And that would seem a bit cruel. Very interesting post, Roy!
Amy recently posted..Consider the olive . . . then make some olive bread!
Cruel to whom, Amy? You or Amalia?
Seriously, though, it’s a small sacrifice (and inconvenience) that can save us from devouring a bag of M&M’s- if we elect to choose the wrapped variety.
Who really needs those 442 extra calories?