Digital News Report – What influences how much we eat? On today’s ‘The Dr. Oz’ TV show there was a discussion on bad eating habits that can make people get fat. To help explain the top five bad habits, Doctor Oz had expert nutrition coach, Rovenia Brock, PhD on the TV show.
Dr. Oz first tells us some common ways people do mindless eating. Something as simple as the size of your plate can influence how much you eat. Another way to overeat is by the packaging the food comes in you might like it better, and therefore eat more. Placing your candy in a see-through clear bowl can make you eat more. The show explored five other habits that could be making you fat.
Top 5 Eating Habits that could Make you Fat
Rovenia Brock, PhD is a Nutrition Coach and she said that you could control your environment so you can have mindful eating instead of mindless eating.
Scenario One – Low-Fat or No-Fat Processed Foods in the Kitchen Pantry
Brock said that low fat does not mean low calorie. What they take out in the fat content they make up for by adding more sugar and flour. This then adds calories back in.
A Cornell Univesity study inspired Dr. Oz to do his own experiment. Will a low fat labeled snack mix make a person eat more than a snack mix labeled regular? They gave 2 cups of snack mix to two groups of people to have them watch a show. After the show was done, they took and measured what was left from each bag and measured the results. The low-fat group ate 65 percent more than the regular group.
Doctor Oz showed that low fat sandwich cookies had 50 calories while the regular version had 53 calories. He continued to explain that when you eat foods with fats it takes more time to move out of the stomach. If you ate foods without fat and had just sugar it would rush through the body and creates insulin increase and increase fat storage.
Brock said that if you see low-fat or no-fat foods you should pump the brakes. If it is whole food such as low-fat dairy products, this can be a good choice. However, with processed foods she suggested being cautious.
Scenario Two – Eat with Others
Brock said that eating with others you tend to pig out more often. She said that in social settings for dining, you have the see food and eat it diet. If you eat by yourself, you would more than likely eat less. Dr. Oz showed how much more you would eat. If you eat with a friend, you eat 35 % more. With a group you could eat 75% more than by yourself. With a large group of seven people you could eat 96% more food.
Brock said that you would want pace yourself with the slowest eater at table. She also suggested being the last person to be served or to start eating.
Scenario Three – Meal Multitask
The next bad habit that could be making you fat is that you are eating food while you are doing another activity. Brock said that this bad habit is eating while doing anything. That means it could be eating food while watching TV, or could be while you are working on the computer. Brock said that you don’t have to set aside a long time to eat. All you have to do is to take 15 minutes to enjoy your meal without being distracted by something else.
Scenario Four – Eat Straight out of the Package
Brock said never to eat straight out of the package; it is like a bottomless pit. One study showed that people who ate out of the packaged bag consumed 134 calories more explained Dr. Oz. Brock said to avoid overeating, put your food on small plates, small containers, or small zip lock bags. Never eat out of the bag of potato chips again.
Scenario Five – Use Artificial Sweeteners
Doctor Oz said people eat an average of 24 pounds of artificial sweeteners per year. Brock said some research suggests it could disrupt the regulatory system that controls hunger. She said that the body is expecting calories, and doesn’t get them so you crave foods. The artificial sweeteners could also desensitize taste buds.
Dr. Oz conducted another experiment. This time he had two groups of people, one that preferred artificial sweetener, and the other group who preferred eating sugar. They served cake with frosting that was made with sugar to both groups. They wanted to see if the artificial sweetener group would eat more. The artificial sweetener group ate more cake than the group that preferred sugar. One person who was in the artificial sweetener group thought the cake didn’t taste sweet, while the another person from the sugar eating group thought it tasted very sweet.
Brock said artificial sweeteners are found in baby food, vitamins, and they could be hidden in foods that you wouldn’t even be aware of. Dr. Oz said that artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, acesulfame are found in foods. Brock said one way to break the habit is to blend half of the artificial sweetener with real sugar and eventually replace it completely with sugar or a natural sweetener. Agave and coconut sap sugar both have low glycemic index ratings. Brock said a person could wean themselves off the artificial sweeteners eventually.
By: Robert Williams
Entertainment Reporter