Is scrolling through these food scrolls making you fat? – Firstpost
Are you one of those people who can’t take their eyes off the screen when watching a cooking video? Do cooking videos put you in a trance? Do you also enjoy watching cooking shows on TV or on your mobile phone?
So, take a few minutes out of your busy life and read this report. Watching cooking videos on Instagram or cooking series on TV can lead to weight gain.
But how? Let’s try to understand.
Are social networks making us fat?
Watching these baking videos on social media will surely make you crave these sweet treats. Watching your favorite celebrity chef prepare the meal you love will make you want to stay in front of your screens and maybe even order the dish afterwards.
Or, you can try to prepare the dish using the chef’s recipe.
Cooking videos on Instagram attract a significant number of views. Speaking to India today, Content creator Kevin Zingkhai, who has 605,000 followers on Instagram, said more and more influencers and creators have developed an interest in creating food videos.
Creators reap the rewards of their efforts through views of these videos, as it is difficult for users to scroll through clips of these delicious dishes.
Zingkhai said: “Cooking videos are addictive because they show a step-by-step process leading to the final product, coupled with our food cravings. It’s a goldmine!”
A 2019 study found that regularly viewing images of appetizing food on social media could trigger feelings of hunger, leading to overeating.
Shivangi Rajput, a Delhi-based counselling psychologist, said India Today “Watching cooking videos on social media often triggers the brain’s pleasure centers, similar to addictive substances. When a person watches a lot of cooking videos, they may start to crave those foods more often, which influences their behavior by making them more likely to seek out and eat the types of foods they see.”
According to the 2019 study published in the journal Brain and CognitionJust looking at pictures of food could increase levels of ghrelin, a hormone that tells your brain you’re hungry.
It has been suggested that simply looking at these images of delicious food causes a rush of blood to the part of the brain responsible for taste, making you want to eat even when you’re not hungry.
Social media can also influence your diet and lifestyle habits. This can have an impact on your weight.
“Yes, watching food trailers can make you gain weight,” said Rajput, the counselling psychologist. India today.
“As you watch many different videos, your fingers are constantly scrolling, which leads to increased screen time and a lack of physical activity. This generally impacts your attention span and sets the stage for a negative lifestyle. Inactivity can disrupt your normal appetite signal and cause you to eat more than you need,” she explained.
READ ALSO:India moves closer to approval of weight loss drug tirzepatide: What is it? How does it work?
How cooking shows affect our weight
It’s not just watching food videos or pictures on social media, but also watching cooking shows on TV that affects your weight.
A 2015 study published in the journal Appetite found that women who prepared food from scratch after seeing it on a cooking show had higher BMIs.
“Our main finding is that it appears that if you watch cooking shows on TV and then cook the recipes you see, you are likely to have a higher BMI (body mass index),” said study author Lizzy Pope, a nutrition and food science researcher at the University of Vermont. NPR.
About 500 women aged 20 to 30 were asked about their eating habits, with the researchers taking into account their weight and height to calculate their BMI.
“In terms of weight, those who watched cooking shows and cooked from scratch often weighed an average of 165 pounds,” the study found. In contrast, women who watched cooking shows but didn’t cook from scratch much weighed about 150 pounds, the study found. NPR report.
Does this mean you should stop cooking at home? No!
Pope said she doesn’t want to discourage people from preparing meals at home. “As a dietitian, I want to encourage everyone to cook at home as often as possible.”
But she advised people to be mindful of what they cook and how they do it, as cooking shows on TV may not be a source of inspiration for healthy cooking.
READ ALSO:What is the anti-diet trend of intuitive eating? Does it improve gut health?
What can you do?
We know those cooking videos are tempting. It’s even harder not to order that mouth-watering dish once you discover it on your feed.
But you have to keep a balance. Follow accounts that encourage healthier eating habits. Limit your consumption of sites that feature appetizing images of food, especially if they are not healthy.
If you come across a healthy cooking recipe on your social networks, you can save it and prepare the dish yourself one day.
Focus on your hunger cues and eat accordingly rather than eating the portions you see on your screens.
The most important thing is to put your phones aside and go for a 30-minute walk. Meet up with family or friends instead of watching cooking videos.
With contributions from agencies
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