It might be a good idea to skip that yummy-looking dip if you are trying to limit your caloric intake. According to research from Penn State that was recently published in Food Quality and Preference, serving a dip with a salty snack promotes greater calorie intake – a lot more.
Americans love to snack, recent estimates suggest that on average, one-fourth of most American’s daily calories are from snacking. With more than 2 in 5 Americans being overweight or obese finding ways to make more healthful snack choices has never been more important.
Skip the dip
While you may think that adding something extra to a snack would make people eat less of the main item, but you would probably be wrong.
“Our research shows this is not the case with chips and dip,” he said. “Our participants consumed the same amount of chips regardless of whether dip was present, leading to much greater energy intake when dip was available.”
The study
46 Participants were served 70 grams of ranch-flavored chips, or about 2.5 servings, with or without about a third of a cup of ranch dip, and the participants ate as much as they wanted. Participant intake was measured, and all eating sessions were video recorded and annotated for the number of bites and active eating time; this information was used to calculate measures of “eating microstructure,” including eating rate and bite size.
Overeating
A greater intake of the chips and dip snack was facilitated by a larger bite size resulting from dip inclusion. On average per eating session, participants consumed 345 calories of chips and dip compared to 195 calories of chips alone. The effects of external sources of oral lubrication like dips in the oral processing of salty snacks are believed to play a large role in the processes.
“Clearly, it has an influence on food intake, especially while snacking,” she said. “However, in this chips-and-dip snack, the greater intake resulting from dip inclusion may have been facilitated by a larger total snack bite size, as opposed to faster chip eating rate.”
Portion control
The findings suggest that when consumers are served a dip with a salty snack, they eat more. The chip and dip combination yielded a 77% greater caloric intake which is also paired with a faster total eating rate compared to eating the chips alone without dip. However, they still ate as many chips, just slower.
“The most striking findings of our study is that people didn’t eat fewer chips when dip was available — they ate the same amount of chips, plus the dip,” said study corresponding author John Hayes, professor of food science and director of the Penn State Sensory Evaluation Center. “This lack of compensation means that adding dip to chips can substantially increase overall energy intake without people realizing it.”
Mindful eating
“This research opens up new avenues for exploring how the physical properties of foods can influence our eating behaviors and ultimately, our energy intake,” he said. “If we can slow people down, we can influence energy consumption without giving up the pleasure from food.”
This article was written by T.J.W. at the WHN News Desk
As with anything you read on the internet, this article should not be construed as medical advice; please talk to your doctor or primary care provider before changing your wellness routine. WHN does not agree or disagree with any of the materials posted. This article is not intended to provide a medical diagnosis, recommendation, treatment, or endorsement. Additionally, it is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, individual, or anyone or anything. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
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References/Sources/Materials provided by:
https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/trying-limit-calories-skip-dip-researchers-advise
