Comparison of food recommendations varying in sustainability: Impact on dietary intake and motivation to follow recommendations.

Food recommendations increasingly focus on sustainability in addition to nutritional value. By providing participants with standard versus sustainable (plant-based) dietary recommendations for 3 weeks, the present research tested the impact of recommendations on dietary compliance. Furthermore, predictors of food intake were tested across food categories. Participants in the sustainable diet condition complied less with recommendations as compared to those in the standard diet condition and were less motivated to continue complying after the intervention. Taste was the main predictor of intake across food categories. Together, this stresses the importance of considering factors stimulating consumers' compliance when formulating food recommendations.

Combined Protein-Rich Diet With Resistance Exercise Intervention to Counteract Sarcopenia: A Qualitative Study on Drivers and Barriers of Compliance.

Interventions combining protein-rich diets with resistance exercises seem a promising avenue in helping to prevent sarcopenia. However, compliance to health interventions is generally low. The aim of the present study was to provide qualitative insights into the drivers and barriers that older adults experience when trying to comply with a combined dietary and physical exercise intervention. Semi-structured interviews with 18 older adults participating in such an intervention were conducted and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Most frequently reported drivers to comply with the diet were a fit with existing habits, knowledge on the health benefits, and product properties (taste, convenience, package). Drivers for physical exercises were existing habits, social contacts, customized support, and experienced physical improvement. It is suggested that customized support is important to successfully implement exercise-protein interventions amongst older adults, especially regarding participants' habits, product preferences, and social environment.

How does fiction reading influence empathy? An experimental investigation on the role of emotional transportation.

The current study investigated whether fiction experiences change empathy of the reader. Based on transportation theory, it was predicted that when people read fiction, and they are emotionally transported into the story, they become more empathic. Two experiments showed that empathy was influenced over a period of one week for people who read a fictional story, but only when they were emotionally transported into the story. No transportation led to lower empathy in both studies, while study 1 showed that high transportation led to higher empathy among fiction readers. These effects were not found for people in the control condition where people read non-fiction. The study showed that fiction influences empathy of the reader, but only under the condition of low or high emotional transportation into the story.