Are you overeating? Your kitchen might be to blame.
If you’re reaching for that extra handful of potato chips or grabbing another snack while standing in your kitchen, take a look around.
A new study from Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab found that “chaotic food environments” encourage people to overeat. The findings were published recently in the journal Environment & Behavior.
Stacks of dirty dishes in the sink, junk mail, open food and other clutter left out on the counters, even ringing telephones — all of this clutter contributes to your kitchen being an environment that is out of control.
During the study, researchers observed participants who were left to wait in two types of kitchens — one that was clean and organized and one that was strewn with messes. The participants were also asked to reflect on a time in their life when they either felt in control or out of control. Snacks were left for participants. In the messy kitchen, the out-of-control environment was interrupted by a loud person who barged in looking for one of the researchers.
The women in the cluttered kitchen ate more calories than their counterparts in clean kitchens, which researchers suggest could be due to the sense of chaos and feelings of being out of control in a messy environment.
If you have similar feelings in your own home or kitchen and find yourself snacking or eating excessively, work on cleaning and organizing your surroundings. Try some of these tips: Empty the dishwasher, throw away crumpled receipts, old newspapers and junk mail, take out the trash and — most importantly — don’t leave food out on the counters where it can tempt you.