Why you might want to consider becoming a ‘foodie’
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Foodies get a lot of flack for their constant posting of delicious eats on social media, but a new study suggests this gastro-bragging may actually help prevent obesity.
The study comes out of Cornell University’s Food and Brand lab and suggests that adventurous eaters weigh less and may be healthier than their less-adventurous counterparts.” This is particularly true when talking about female foodies.
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The study profiled 502 women across the U.S. and found that those who ate the widest variety of uncommon foods tended to have lower body mass indexes (BMIs) when compared to those who stuck to a more tradition diet of common foods. Uncommon foods included a mixture of traditionally “healthy” options including kale, quinoa and seaweed along with richer foods like kimchi, eel, polenta, rabbit and pork belly.
“These findings are important to dieters because they show that promoting adventurous eating may provide a way for people – especially women – to lose or maintain weight without feeling restricted by a strict diet,” said study co-author, Brian Wansink, PhD.
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As well as being adventurous with their choices when eating out, the study found that many foodies had a tendency to cook more – particularly for friends – and were more more likely to use high-quality and fresh ingredients without much concern for cost. They also shied away from packaged and processed junk food – these things don’t exactly photograph well.
But, before you go running off to Eataly, the survey also found that those with more adventurous palettes also had a tendency to be more physically active. When you’re making a hobby of sampling spicy peanut butter sriracha rolls and bacon-wrapped corn, hitting the gym a few days a week seems like a small price to pay.
