How do we choose what to eat?

You are what you eat: personality and br...

Vending machines at every street corner, birthday cakes at work, and creamy Frappuccino’s on-the-go. We are constantly tempted by tasty energy-rich foods everywhere we go. Yet, many of us still manage to avoid gaining weight. Why is it that our waistlines respond in different ways to this ‘obesogenic’ environment? Since all eating decisions are made between our ears, it seems likely that not everyone’s brain responds the same way to food. We recently reviewed how personality relates to the way...

"Nudging" the consumer toward healthier ...

In policy making, there is a recurring demand that consumers be better educated at a young age, and more thoroughly informed about nutrition. There are frequent calls for a “transformation in the minds of consumers” – away from cheap, fatty, and sugary foods and toward nutritionally sound, healthy diets. Many political and social actors have attempted to change consumer knowledge, attitudes, and preferences in order to encourage healthier lives. Yet despite the efforts that have been made, policy measures aimed...

”Mindless” eating

Some foods and drinks can seem easier to eat than others. Have you gone to the movies and ordered the medium sized popcorn? Or the large? The chance is that whichever you took, much of it was gone before the movie started. Furthermore, independent of the size of the bucket you chose, you may feel equally as full (or not so full and eager for more!).

To eat or not to eat?

Eating behavior and body weight are determined by multiple factors including genetics and environment, which interact in different ways defining our food choice and their long-term consequences. Therefore a profound knowledge of factors influencing food choice becomes more and more relevant as it can serve as a guideline to develop treatment strategies to stop the obesity epidemic in western societies.

Why do we eat more (or less) when we fee...

Almost everyone today can relate to the terms ”comfort eating“ or ”emotional eating“. In a hectic world, the idea that people treat themselves to their favourite food in order to improve their wellbeing seems to be a compelling contributor to why obesity is on the rise. A lot of us are struggling with the daily hassles of our workplace or private lives from time to time, and if eating “comfort food” provides a quick solution to restore one’s mood, this...

Snacking - a cause of weight gain?

As the world’s eating habits are changing, so are our waistlines. A hot topic in the field of obesity is whether frequent snacking can contribute to the obesity epidemic. It has been suggested that the effect of snacking on body weight is most likely down to the size and type of snack. Many nutritionists urge people to snack; to eat little and often throughout the day to keep energy levels up. However, many people forget the nutritionist’s definition of...

The neurobiology of food choices in hung...

Grocery shopping on an empty stomach might not be the best idea when trying to lose weight. Food becomes more attractive when we’re hungry and we seem particularly susceptible to the luring properties of high-energy dense food like pizza or chocolate. Hunger and satiety are important in controlling daily food intake and securing adequate amounts of energy and nutrients. These physiological states influence food consumption and the food choices we make. In Nudge-it we explore the underlying brain mechanisms of...

The importance of early-life experience

Our bodies and behaviours are products of our genes and our environment (with a bit of randomness thrown in). Our genes are relatively fixed, but the body they build is not, and nor is the environment. This changing environment can change our bodies (obesity is a good example), and penetrate further, even to change gene expression. This is a life-long process but there is a great interest in how early-life experiences, like stress or exposure to high-energy foods in childhood...