Listen to your food. Photo: Shutterstock.
Top chefs have long known that food is about so much more than just the taste. It’s about the presentation: how the food appears on the plate. The combination of colors and textures has to be pleasing to the eye. It’s about the smell: how the varying components combine together to create a distinct aroma. It’s about the texture: what the mouth actually experiences when eating the food. And finally, it’s about what you hear as you bite down. Are you paying attention to the food? The background music? The loudmouth at the table next to you? All these components work together to determine your overall impression of the food.
Scientists are now backing up what chefs have long known: sound matters. In fact, researchers have recently coined the phrase “The Crunch Effect.” In this case, the sound of chewing crunchy foods can help you feel full more quickly. The sound helps you tune into your food, and as a result you are more mindful of the overall experience of the meal, including how much you are eating. This mindfulness is known as food salience. The more crunching you hear as you eat your meal, the more food your mind accounts for as having eaten. Sound serves as a kind of sensory queue for when you should begin to feel full.
For this reason, many believe that eating crunchy foods can be a helpful tool for weight loss. The sound of crunching can help make you more aware of how much you’ve eaten. Instead of continuing to eat mindlessly, the sound of crunching can help you know when to stop. Overall, this can help prevent overeating.
This concept has been demonstrated by a couple different studies. The most convincing study was conducted by the researchers at University of Colorado in conjunction with researchers at Bringham Young University. Researchers compared two groups. One group ate pretzels while wearing headphones playing very soft, quiet music. The other group ate pretzels while listening to loud music playing in headphones. Those listening to the softer music could hear themselves chomp and chew, and they ate significantly less than those listening to the loud music.
What’s the takeaway? If you’re trying to stay trim or drop a couple pounds, tune into your food. Turn off the TV, unplug from your ear buds, and listen while you eat. It might seem weird at first, but even becoming mildly aware of your munching can help improve your food salience. Also, eating plenty of crunchy foods like carrots, celery, and apples can help you tune in even with plenty of background sounds.
