Sugar Craving Hack: Watching Food-Related Immersive Video Could Reduce Desire for Sweet Treats [Study]

(Photo: Pexels/Антон Залевський)
Sugar Craving Hack: Watching Food-Related Immersive Video Could Reduce Desire for Sweet Treats [Study]

If you have a sweet tooth and want to reduce sugar consumption, a new study discovered a hack that might benefit you. The answer to your sweet cravings could be videos of others enjoying the desired treats!

Sugar Cravings Hack

According to a recent study, watching immersive films of other people consuming candy led viewers to consume less sweets themselves. Half of the 317 participants in the study, who were between the ages of 21 and 28, received a VR headset and saw immersive, 360-degree footage of individuals consuming candy. A video of a coin being placed in a washing machine was played for the other half of the participants.

The corresponding videos were shown to both groups 30 times. Each group received candy after this immersive experience. However, those who had watched the immersive eating experience consumed about a third less candy than those who had observed the coin at the laundromat.

According to Benjamin Li Junting, the study's lead author, the results suggest that watching food-related immersive videos may be a way to induce satiation and reduce the amount of food consumed after watching, which is useful for those trying to control their eating habits or restrict their hunger.

The effects were even more profound when participants were allowed to experience smell as an additional immersive sensation.

Participants reduced their candy intake by another 11% when the experiment was repeated, with the aroma of chocolate bars drifting in the background. The individual's desire for the treat diminished when they smelled chocolate, which had a comparable, habit-forming impact as seeing others consume it.

The study concluded that exposure to food fragrance cues and visual food signals might stimulate the taste buds. The study's authors hope their findings can aid those who struggle with binge eating disorders and other forms of excessive food consumption.

ALSO READ: Non-Sugar Sweeteners Don't Help With Weight Control, Reduce Risk of Noncommunicable Diseases, WHO Says

Overconsumption of Sugar Could Lead to Diseases

Overindulging in sugar can result in insulin resistance, a condition that is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, and cardiovascular disease. The hormone insulin helps the body utilize glucose, also called sugar, and convert it to energy. Blood glucose levels increase in people with insulin resistance. Diabetes develops when the body eventually quits responding to insulin, the blood sugar level remains elevated, and this happens over time. Over time, diabetes can result in renal failure, nerve damage, eyesight loss, blocked veins and arteries, and kidney failure, all of which may need amputation.

Inflammation in general, cirrhosis, cancer, neuropathy, and kidney disease have all been connected to excessive sugar consumption. Various malignancies, including breast, colon, and endometrial cancers, are linked to obesity. Since some tumor cells may use glucose and insulin to fuel their growth, some may inadvertently grow from dietary sugar.