Calorie deprivation impairs the self-control of eating, but not of other behaviors.
Psychol Health
; 37(10): 1185-1199, 2022 10.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34139896
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Sustained weight loss is difficult to achieve, and weight regain is common due to biological and psychological changes caused by calorie deprivation. These changes are thought to undermine weight loss efforts by making self-control more difficult. However, there is a lack of evidence showing a causal relationship between calorie deprivation and behavioral self-control.DESIGN:
In this longitudinal field experiment, we tested whether a ten-day period of calorie deprivation leads to the impairment of behavioral self-control. Participants were randomly assigned to either restrict their calorie intake or to continue eating normally for the study period. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Participants were given a box of food and non-food 'treats' (i.e., chocolates and lottery tickets) that they were asked to resist until the end of the study. On the last day, researchers recorded the number of treats that remained for each participant.RESULTS:
Nonparametric permutation tests revealed that calorie-deprived participants ate significantly more chocolates than control participants did (p = 0.036), but that participants did not differ in the number of lottery tickets 'scratched' by condition (p = 0.332).CONCLUSION:
This pattern of findings suggests that calorie deprivation impairs food-related self-control, but that this self-control deficit may not generalize beyond food-related tasks.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ingestão de Energia
/
Autocontrole
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos