The empty wrappers! In a recent study, Cornell University Food and Brand Lab director Brian Wansink, Ph.D., found that people ate about half as many mini-sized candies when they kept the wrappers in plain sight. Turns out, having a visual cue is key for sending the message to your brain that it’s time to stop snacking. “Your stomach can’t count, but your eyes can when they see the empty wrappers,” he says.
From the category archives:
food
You probably know that loading up on fruits and vegetables helps you lose weight since they’re low in calories and high in filling fiber. Yet, getting produce in juices and smoothies can have the opposite [more…]
According to a recent study, while an impressive 71% of men are now doing at least some of the grocery shopping, they’re not necessarily getting better at it. For instance, if they can’t find a certain item, they generally won’t look for substitutes. They tend to get overwhelmed when faced with a lot of choices. And they’re about as likely to ask for help finding products as they are to ask for directions. To make it easier for your mate, hand him a grocery list with lots of details—such as the size, brand and flavor you want, and even where the items are in the store. And be sure to include alternatives in case the product you want isn’t on the shelf.
[photo: Ollie Crafoord]
Don’t like spinach? Your baby probably won’t like it either. Can’t get enough of peaches? Your baby will probably love them, too. The reason? Your likes and dislikes, especially for fruit and vegetables, are passed on to your infant through your breast milk, which gets flavored by the foods you eat, suggests a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics.
[photo: Qole Pejorian]
Heads up, pancakes lovers: On Tuesday, February 23, IHOP restaurants are offering customers a complimentary stack to help celebrate Pancake Day—an annual holiday that began hundreds of years ago as a way to use up milk and eggs before fasting for Lent. Simply show up between 7 am and 10 am and you’ll be treated to three yummy buttermilk biscuits in return for a donation of any amount to support local children’s hospitals. [more…]
New research shows that grocery stores are using some pretty sly tactics to get you to bulk up your bill. To avoid falling for them…
1. Skip the suggested add-on. According to a new study, we tend to buy complementary products that are placed next to each other on the shelves—such as blueberries and whipped cream, chips and salsa, soda and pretzels and ice cream and chocolate syrup. Yet, when we pass by the same products in different aisles, we don’t put them in our cart, reports the Journal of Marketing. [more…]
Faces that have a rosy glow are considered the most attractive because they’re a sign of good health, according to a new study in the Journal of Primatology. Luckily, you don’t need expensive exfoliants or cosmetics to put color in your cheeks. Simply munch carrots, tomatoes, apricots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, winter squash, spinach and kale. The researchers say these fruits’ and vegetables’ carotenoids—antioxidant-rich plant pigments that soak up toxic compounds in the body—supply more oxygen and blood to the face, giving it a healthy hue.
[photo: D. Sharon Pruitt]
Sure, olive oil, fruits, veggies and tea are full of disease-fighting antioxidants and vitamins. But, store them too long and you won’t get as much of these benefits, if any, since exposure to oxygen and light makes certain molecules degrade over time. To get the highest doses of health-enhancing nutrients, the latest research shows you should use…
* Unopened olive oil in under six months.
* Refrigerated cut or peeled fruits and vegetables within one week.
* Fruit juice within one week after opening it.
* Tea bags or loose tea leaves within six months.
* Fresh-brewed tea the same day you brew it.
[photo: lepiaf.geo]
Considering buying a natural or organic food or beauty product? To be sure you’re getting the natural goodness you’re paying for, the USDA advises you to check packages for these labels:
On foods…
* “100% organic”: It will appear on fruit, vegetables, meat, milk, cheese and other “single ingredient” foods and means it was grown without manmade fertilizers or pesticides. [more…]
Have bottles of spices around so long you can’t remember when you bought them? According to Amanda Bevill, owner of World Spice Merchants in Seattle, Washington, there’s an easy way to figure out if spices are still fresh enough to cook with: crush a little between two fingers. If the aroma is rich, full and immediate, the spice still has enough potency to add zing to your dishes. If the aroma is bland, it’s time to replace it.
[photo: madpai]
Before you go shopping, enjoy a handful of M&Ms, a few Hershey’s kisses or a couple of pieces of your favorite chocolate bar. Turns out, chocolate can help prevent you from falling for snazzy marketing displays or sales [more…]
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