According to a new study, when people link their calorie intake through the junk food they eat during their workout sessions, they are bound to eat healthy and lose weight faster.
A new study conducted by researchers from the Texas Christian University found there is a direct link between junk food, working out and losing weight. According to the study findings, when a person trying to lose weight is shown junk food along with the workout he or she needs to do in order to lose the calories gained from consuming that junk food, people tend to choose a diet with less calories and lose weight faster. However, if they were shown the food with just the nutritional value, they tend to choose junk food over healthier options.
For the study, 300 people were asked to participate. They were divided into three groups and each group was given a menu with the same food items on it. However, for the first group, only the nutritional value of each food item was mentioned. In the menu given to the second group, the number of calories for each food item was also mentioned; and in the third group's menu, the menu also noted how many minutes of brisk walking needs to be done to lose those calories.
It was found that the third group ordered food with 15 percent lesser calories than the other two groups, while not much of a difference was observed between the first two groups.
"Brisk walking is something nearly everyone can relate to, which is why we displayed on the menu the minutes of brisk walking needed to burn food calories," said lead researcher Ashlei James, from the Texas Christian University, according to The Daily Mail. "All menus contained the same food and beverage options, which included burgers, chicken sandwiches, salad, fries, desserts, soda, and water."
Senior researcher Dr. Meena Shah agrees.
"We need a more effective strategy to encourage people to order and consume fewer calories from restaurant menus. This study suggests there are benefits to displaying exercise minutes to a group of young men and women," she said. "This is the first study to look at the effects of displaying minutes of brisk walking needed to burn food calories on the calories ordered and consumed.
"For example a female would have to walk briskly for approximately two hours to burn the calories in a quarter-pound double cheeseburger. But we can't generalize to a population over age 30, so we will further investigate this in an older and more diverse group," she said.
