New research has shown people over-consume ‘Fitness Foods’.
Which could lead to unwanted weight gain.
Plus a big dent in your wallet.
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• What are ‘Fitness Foods’?
“They are foods that otherwise might be ‘forbidden’ to the persons diet, like a chocolate bar, but branded as ‘fit'”.
In this study they used Trail Mix & then had the product but labelled as ‘fit’ and with a running shoe added to the packaging.
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• What was studied?
Participants were given trail-mix style snacks marked either “Fitness” or “Trail Mix.”
Participants were told to pretend that they were at home helping themselves to an afternoon snack, and were given eight minutes to taste and rate the product.
They were then given the option to exercise as vigorously as they liked on a stationary bicycle after eating the snack.
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• What was found?
Those who were actively watching their weight actually over-ate the ‘Fitness’ branded food & did not burn as many calories on the stationary bike.
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• Why is this a problem?
It should be pretty clear. The energy balance equation has two sides, energy in and energy out. By increasing consumption and decreasing exercise, both ends are being hit. Thus, this could quite easily lead to a unbalanced equation, leading to weight gain.
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I think this is quite a commonly experienced phenomenon in the fitness community. Many of us are driven wrongly by the idea that foods can be ‘good’ and ‘bad’, or ‘fit’ and ‘unfit’ as it were.
As seen this can lead to unwanted consequences such as weight gain. This is because we are missing what is more important, total calorie consumption, and its impact on our own energy balance.
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Commonly thought as ‘good’ or ‘fit’ foods, that are troublesome:
• Nuts.
• Salad.
• Fatty Fish.
• Flap Jacks.
• Fruit Juices.
• Dried Fruit.
• Avocado.
• Olive Oil.
• Seeds.
The list could go on. I am not saying the above foods are therefore ‘bad’, if you think that, then you’re missing the point. The point is that the above foods are calorie dense, and therefore can easily be over-consumed, and the ‘good’/’clean’ label can make this easier.
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No food is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, food is what it is, nutrition.
Macronutrients.
Micronutrients.
Calories.
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Because our bodies don’t know what we’re eating, only what we’re getting from the food eaten. As seen, ‘fit’ foods can lead to unwanted consequences, just like ‘bad’ or ‘unfit’ foods can.
Labelling foods as such does nothing to benefit us as consumers.
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Further Reading:
• The Perfect Diet: http://www.stephenhallrevive.com/2014/03/30/the-perfect-diet
• Apples are Bad for You: http://www.stephenhallrevive.com/2015/06/05/apples-are-bad-for-you/
Study in question:
• Joerg Koenigstorfer, Hans Baumgartner. The Effect of Fitness Branding on Restrained Eaters’ Food Consumption and Post-Consumption Physical Activity. Journal of Marketing Research, 2015
stephenhallrevive.wordpress.com 