A series of new studies out of Cornell University have found that shoppers who ate an apple before grocery shopping made significantly healthier food choices
Despite vows to eat perfectly healthy, we've all left the supermarket pushing a trolley peppered with chocolate, cakes and snack foods. They were on sale – how could you resist?
But if you genuinely want to stick with it, you might want to snack on an apple before you go shopping next time.
A series of new studies out of Cornell University have found that shoppers who ate a slice of apple before going grocery shopping bought 28 percent more fruit and vegetables than people who ate a bit of cookie.
And shopping on an empty stomach wasn't helpful either — of the 180 volunteers involved in the experiment, apple-eaters bought 25 percent more fruit and vegetables than people who had no pre-shopping snack.
“What this teaches us is that having a small, healthy snack before shopping can put us in a healthier mindset and steer us towards making better food choices," says researcher Dr Aner Tal.
In one part of the study, the researchers analysed the participants' shopping trolleys for purchases after they'd eaten either apple, cookie or nothing at all. In another part of the study the participants were simply shown images of various foods and were asked to pick the low calorie options.
But the researchers don't think the apple necessarily changed people's behaviour— rather, they think being around healthy foods simply put the participants in a healthier headspace.
To prove this hypothesis, they gave people chocolate milk to drink and told half of them that it was healthy and wholesome and told others it was rich and indulgent, and found those who thought it was healthy chose healthier foods at the supermarket.
"Anything that puts you in a healthy mindset, whether it’s actually a health food or not, can change your mind to healthier choices,” Tal says.
He recommends starting your shopping in the fruit and vegetable section to put you in a healthy headspace.
This is hardly the first study to suggest that the supermarket can sabotage our health, and that putting in place a few tricks can change our shopping habits.
Professor Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab, also advises dividing your shopping trolley in half and putting fruits and vegetables in the front section.
"Shoppers with divided carts spent twice as much on fruits and vegetables," he wrote in his book Slim by Design.
"Your local supermarket might not have divided carts [but you can] physically divide your cart by putting something across the middle. This could be a purse, backpack, scarf, briefcase or coat."
He also suggests chewing gum while shopping, with his research showing shoppers who chewed gum bought seven percent less junk food.
"Chewing gum short-circuits our cravings," he explains.
"It makes it too hard to imagine the sensory details of crunchy chips or creamy ice-cream."
And while you're shopping, try to make quick choices in the fruit and vegetable section — Dr Wansink's research shows that you're 11 percent more likely to take the first vegetable you see than the third.
The new research was published in the journal Psychology & Marketing.