Scientists have recently developed a brain training app featuring a junk food game that they claim can help one eat less and lose weight without dieting.
A Mail Online article specified that losing weight is something that many people are struggling with, although days of transforming the fad diets to shed off the pounds could eventually be "a thing of the past."
This brain training app called The Food Trainer or FoodT app trains the user to tap on images of healthy foods, but stops tapping when he sees unhealthy snacks on the phone's screen.
The developers said this creates a link between junk foods and an "inhibited response," helping avoid choices of unhealthy foods in real-world settings.
ALSO READ: Western Pattern Diet Could Lead to Gut Inflammation; Reveals Obesity May Reach "Point of No Return"
With this brain-training app, an individual eating each junk food two to four times each week decreased this to once each week after using the brain training app for one month.
Helps Address Unhealthy Eating Habits
According to the University of Helsinki's Dr. Matthias Aulbach, for an individual who has unhealthy eating habits probably developed during lockdown, "FoodT might be helpful."
In new research, scientists from the universities of Exeter and Helsinki examined the effect of the app on more than 1,200 participants' consumption of junk food.
As a result, they discovered that playing the game once each day for a month resulted in an average one-point reduction of consumption of junk food on an eight-point scale.
Nonetheless, those who played the mobile game more frequently reported even larger changes in their food consumption.
Across all participants, there was an average weight loss of just more than one pound or half a kilogram and a slight increase in healthy food consumed.
4-Minute Game
The researcher on the study, Natalia Lawrence, said, as an example, an individual eating each junk food two to four times each week decreased this to once each week after using the brain training app for one month.
In general, the findings are indeed encouraging. This app is free, and it just takes roughly four minutes each day, and thus, it is something people are realistically doing, and results propose this technology is effective.
There is some evidence, said Lawrence, that the benefits were more effective for those who were more overweight. She added that they would expect to see this, as the app targets mechanisms that lead people to gain weight and eventually turn overweight, like the strong urge to approach and eat tempting junk foods.
This four-minute game, according to a similar Medical Xpress report, asks a user to choose three food or beverage types he wants to consume less of. Then, the player selects the item and touches it on the phone screen when the green circle is visible and doesn't do so when a red circle is seen.
Furthermore, the app periodically asks questions about how frequently one eats certain foods, along with other information, which includes a user's age and weight.
Brain-Training
According to Dr. Aulbach, if one is trying to teach his brain something new, this brain-training app is a good idea to space out the learning over numerous sessions.
It might help do the brain training in different contexts, not just at home but also in the workplace and elsewhere. Therefore, the links one learns added Aulbach do not just relate to one area.
From their results, it appears essential that one does the brain training regularly and doesn't just stop. Therefore, advised the expert, "keep it interesting and relevant for yourself" to avoid boredom with the app.
He also recommended for the app to be personalized as far as possible, not to mention for the users to opt for the foods that they find undeniably hard to resist.
The study, App-based food Go/No-Go training: User engagement and dietary intake in an opportunistic observational study is published in the Appetite journal.
Related information is shown on Natalia Parslow's YouTube video below:
RELATED ARTICLE: Excessive Hummus Consumption: Is It Safe to Eat a Lot of This Healthy Snack?
Check out more news and information on Medicine and Health and Tech & Innovation in Science Times.