Shopping on an empty stomach? This is really not advisable, either financially or nutritionally. Two recent studies support this assertion. The first, carried out by researchers at Cornell University and published in the latest edition of JAMA Internal Medicine, involved 68 people with the bad habit of regularly skipping meals. They were divided into two groups:the first received a cereal bar, before shopping in a grocery store simulated in the laboratory. The second had to do the same but did not receive a snack. The experiment shows that not only individuals with an empty stomach bought more products (+18.6% compared to the first group), but that in addition, their choices went towards products with a lot more calories (31 % more).
Two researchers from the Montreal Neurological Instutite, Alain Dagher and Deb Tang, confirmed in a second study that the brain does indeed act under the influence of a certain hormone, when our body feels the sensation of hunger. And this famous hormone is ghrelin. Released mainly by the stomach, it is the only one that stimulates the appetite. It passes into the blood and sends the message of hunger to the brain. Thus, after the meal the concentration of ghrelin in the blood decreases... Of the 29 volunteers in the study, two groups were formed:one received an injection of ghrelin, the other of physiological saline. The results show that the first group is much more attracted to fatty foods than those in the second group. And in a previous study, conducted by Dr. Goldstone in 2010, the results were already similar:foods with high caloric density had a greater appeal to his subjects who were fasting or who had received an injection of ghrelin.
Thus, everyone agrees that under the influence of hunger, we are naturally inclined towards more fatty and sweeter foods. Moral of the story? Avoid shopping on an empty stomach as much as possible...
