Is Taking Pics Of Your Food Bad For Your Waistline?
Plenty of us have done it. You get creative in the kitchen and want to share your accomplishment with the world so you snap a picture with your smartphone. Or you’re at a restaurant and the server puts something amazing on the table. Out comes the phone again. But could all of those food pics be bad for your waistline?
According to the Daily Mail, billions of food pictures are posted on social media every year. Research shows that almost 70-percent of millennials share photos of their food before eating it. Another study suggested that doing so actually made food taste better. However, there may also be a drawback, and it’s not just that your food might get cold.
Researchers at Georgia Southern University have found that photographing your food can make you eat more and pack on some extra pounds. In their study, nearly 150 students were split into two groups. One group was told to take pics of a plate of cheese crackers before eating. That group rated the snack session higher and ate more portions, leading researchers to conclude that taking pictures changes the way our brain perceives food and boosts cravings.
I have another theory. When we post photos of our meals on social media, we may also subconsciously feel threatened by the knowledge that a lot of other people are looking at our food on Facebook, Instagram, etc. At that point, we go into a sort of “competitive survival mode” and feel the need to eat as much of that food as we can so before our followers get to it. Just a thought.
There are some people who share photos of their food on social media without eating any of it. They’re just doing it for the likes and follows. They won’t gain any weight that way, but I hope they’re giving that food to someone else.
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