New research has found turning off media at meal times could help you lose weight. Scientists have found that the sound of your own chewing makes you eat less, therefore you should turn off the TV during meal times.
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Dubbed the ‘crunch effect’, this discovery could help people lose weight by simply switching off distracting devices.
When you eat in a quiet environment you can hear yourself chew and therefore are more conscious of what you are eating according to the research.
With six in ten meals eaten in front of the TV, this is a worrying discovery.
Professor Gina Mohr, and Professor Ryan Elder of Colorado State University carried out experiments which found that sound plays a huge factor in how much we eat.
They even discovered the louder the sound you make whilst eating, the less you are likely to consume.
The research, published in Food Quality and Preference, gave participants headphones, with one group hearing loud noises and the other quiet noises.
They found the louder the noise participants were hearing whilst eating, masked the sound of your own chewing therefore leading them to consume 1.25 pretzels more than the group hearing the quieter noise.
Although this difference seems minimal, the researchers point out that all the extra calories add up.
Professor Elder said: “When you mask the sound of consumption - like when you watch TV while eating - you take away one of those senses and it may cause you to eat more than you would normally.â€
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