Do you make this mistake when it comes to energizing snacks?

Many times when you decide to reorient to a healthy lifestyle, obstacles can arise in your way. You can find the wrong information about the foods you want to eat, and this can lead to stagnation, without knowing the real reason.

A new study by the UBC Saude School of Business shows that  people incorrectly believe that choosing foods with sugar and fat as energizing snacks helps their body to energize instantly.

Whether they are preparing for a big presentation, a final exam or striving to reach new training goals, people are constantly striving to do everything they can to get the most out of it!

But do they eat the right foods?

According to a new study by the UBC Sauder Business School, consumers choose foods high in calories, even low-nutritious ones, believing that they will help them achieve their performance goals, but in reality, their choices could do just the opposite.

For this study, entitled Foods as fuel:  performance goals increase the consumption of high-calorie foods at the expense of good nutrition , the researchers conducted a series of experiments that studied the impact of performance goals on food consumption. Participants were asked if, when it comes to food, they saw their bodies as temples, playgrounds, or fuel-intensive cars.

In an experiment involving 205 male undergraduates in Canada and France, participants were given potato faces and told that their performance would be compared to that of their classmates; participants in a control group were also given potato faces, but had no performance targets.

“And I found that they would eat a lot more potato chips when I activated the performance goals for a physical task.”

In a similar experiment with 146 undergraduate students at a Canadian business school, the researchers asked participants to take a cognitive test that involved doing teaser-type puzzles and told them that their results would be graded; another group did the puzzles simply for fun. Both groups were awarded M&M.

Moreover, the participants most likely to consume low-nutrition snacks were those who saw the human body as a car in need of fuel; in other words, their consumption was driven more by the belief that it would help them perform than by pleasure.

So why do people make such wrong choices?  Cornil says we are misled by marketers who promote snacks as energy sources, even if they offer few benefits, if any.

Cornil notes that a product like Nutella contains a lot of fat and refined sugar, but some advertising campaigns position it as something that fuels daily activities and will give children energy to go to school, which can be misleading.

Indeed, the researchers also questioned  nutritionists who confirmed that the best fuel , for example before an activity that requires energy, can be found in  natural,  unprocessed carbohydrates , such as fruits, vegetables and nuts , and not in high-calorie, highly processed amounts such as sweet or salty snacks. 

Cornil says the findings show that people need more nutrition education, especially when it comes to foods that provide fuel . 

Thus, for a balanced and healthy diet , you can start making today, the right decision for you and your health.

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Source here.