Distracted by hot dogs? Here’s why

Trying to get some work done but you can’t because you keep thinking about those delicious chocolates on table next to you?

Well, you are not the only one who gets distracted by food especially high-calorie foods like chocolates, donuts, candy, cheese and hot dogs.

It seems that most people are hugely distracted by such treats. But would a healthy snack like carrots or apple have the same effect on you?

To find out, researchers from John Hopkin’s University conducted two experiments.

All the images distracted the participants but they were twice as distracted by high-fat calorie dense food then by images of healthy foods and non-food related images.

In the first experiment, 18 participants were required to engage in a “distraction paradigm” test. The aim of this experiment was to determine how food distracted attention from a complex computer test.

Food and non-food related images appeared on their computer screens for just 125 milliseconds – which is too short for people to fully comprehend but long enough for their brain to process the information.

Food images included high-calorie food such as chocolates, candy, cheese and hotdogs and it also included healthy food options such as carrots and apples.

All the images distracted the participants but they were twice as distracted by high-fat calorie dense food then by images of healthy foods and non-food related images.

In the second experiments 18 new participants performed the same task as the first experiment except that they consumed two small candy bars before they began.

The distraction by high-calories foods was significantly less and no different than distraction by images of low-energy foods and images of non-food objects.

This shows that consuming two candy bars before the experiments reduced craving for sweet treats – corroborating previous studies which indicates that once a rewarding stimulus such as a chocolate gets devalued, it is no longer desirable.

People are generally distracted by food due to the feeling of contentment and satisfaction they experience after a tasty meal or sweet treat.

Unfortunately we are more distracted by high-fat or high-sugar treats as the high calorie activates the brain’s reward system making these treats extremely desirable – more than foods that are healthy for us.

This certainly proves that going Grocery shopping when you are hungry is going to result in shopping for foods which we don’t really need.

Source: Psychonomic Bulletin & Review