Eating with Others Makes You Eat More!

Researchers set up a series of lunches where the people who were invited were asked to eat alone first, then placed in groups on subsequent visits.

When people ate alone, some ate very little and others ate quite a lot.  When eating in groups, those same people did the opposite – light eaters ate more and heavy eaters ate less.  Large groups create their own norms, so if everyone else is having a second plate, you probably will too.  But if you were going to eat a third plate and most people stopped after two, then you probably will as well.

What does this mean?  If you’re trying to control your weight, sit with the slow eaters or the light eaters.  They will help you pace yourself and resist the temptation to gorge. Eat slowly and savor your meal and the company!

• Excerpted from Mindless Eating, by Brian Wansink, Ph.D., an insightful and entertaining book on the psychology of eating