Weight loss experts have long suggested that people should never shop for food when they are hungry. Doing so increases the likelihood that they will purchase more high-calorie foods on impulse. Can people plan ahead to eat better and avoid mindless consumption of unnecessary calories?
Ordering Early Means People Eat Better Meals:
Now a study from Carnegie Mellon University suggests that the same principle may hold for meals. The researchers found that people who order their food a few hours ahead of mealtime make better dietary choices. It is easier to control impulses, it appears, if there is a significant delay between choosing and eating the food.
When to Order Lunch:
One experiment offered almost 400 employees of a health care company the chance to place their lunch orders at least 30 minutes ahead of pick-up, but they could place those orders hours before. People who planned further ahead ordered and ate fewer calories.
In an expansion of that study, the researchers gave nearly 1,000 employees a significantly delayed or nearly immediate ordering option. Those who who ordered lunch as soon as they arrived at work, about five hours before consuming it, ate about 5% fewer calories.
College Kids Also Eat Better When They Order Ahead:
This connection between early ordering and fewer calories also held up for college students. They were given a chance to order lunch before or after a class that ended at noon. Those who ordered lunch ahead ate lunches with approximately 100 fewer calories. That was a significant difference.
Journal of Marketing Research, June, 2016
The researchers did not test people who decide the preceding evening what they will eat for lunch the following day and pack their lunches. It seems to us that this would be a simple (though not necessarily easy) way to operationalize this research.
If you are interested in this kind of research, you might want to listen to our Show #951, Why We Eat More Than We Think. It is an hour-long interview with Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating.
