“Healthy” Diners Eat More Than Fast Foodies, Study Shows

Note from Connie: You’d think that healthy restaurants would lead you to eat better foods, right? Well, check out the results of this surprising study, which indicates otherwise. Karen James brings you the scoop.

People who dine at so-called “healthy” restaurants often consume more calories that those who dine at fast food restaurants, according to a recent study that will appear in the October issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.

Researchers Pierre Chandon, associate professor of marketing at the reknowned INSEAD graduate business school in Fontainebleau, France, and  Brian Wansink, Ph.D., director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, author of Mindless Eating and a previous Stop SUGAR SHOCK! Radio guest, found that people regularly underestimate the number of calories contained in meals they believe are healthier—which could lead them to gain weight.

In fact, when participants ate 1,000-calorie meals from Subway and McDonald’s, they underestimated the caloric value in the fast food meal by about 26 percent and in the healthier option by about 42 percent.

Thanks to Reuters Health via Revolution Health for alerting us to the study.

Karen James for the SUGAR SHOCK! Blog