05/10/2011 17:32
It's All In My Head—Really, Is It?
Last year, an article in Science Daily reported that merely eating organic snacks can lead to gross under-estimating of calories eaten. Compounding the phenomenon is that the people most often doing this are those who say they eat only organic foods, and those who typically read nutrition labels! Researches attribute it to a "health halo" which causes people to reward themselves for healthy eating by eating more.
To avoid eating too much "healthy" food, they make the following recommendation:
"Take your best guess at its calorie count. Then double it. You'll end up being more accurate, and you'll probably eat a lot less," explained Wansink.