If you, like us, have more than once insisted that you've 'tried everything' when it comes to trimming down and toning up, you may be interested to learn of a new study which examines a very interesting approach to weight loss.
According to researchers from the University of Konstanz in Germany, all you need to do to drop a few pesky lbs from that waistline is switch off the lights before tucking in. Yes, really.
In a study conducted to examine the impact dining in the dark has on an individual's appetite and approach to food, researchers in the field divided 90 individuals into two groups - 50 of whom were blindfolded with modified ski goggles, 40 of whom were not.
Forbidden from eating for two hours prior to the experiment, all participants were then provided with three bowls of icecream which were removed after a 15-minute consumption period in an effort to ascertain how strong the "cephelic" stage of digestion truly is - a process which causes salivation and the release of gastric juices when food is seen, making it immediately more appealing.
The remains were then measured and participants were surveyed on their experiences, with findings indicating that the blindfolded group ate considerable less than the visually-unimpaired participants - a result which researchers insist is evidence of the impact the cephelic stage has on our appetite.
Commenting on the results of the experiment which saw the blindfolded group admit they thought they had consumed considerably more than they had, lead author, Dr Britta Renner, explained: "Visual deprivation caused a pronounced dissociation between actual and perceived intake."
"These results might indicate that vision deprivation increases perceived intake because the estimation of the satiating potential of foods depends more on ‘real-time’ experience than on prior expectations," she concluded.
So, will you be trying it?!
