The 'Crunch Effect:' Loud Eaters Eat Less, Study Says

A recent study published in the journal Food Quality and Preference suggested it's not just the size and the appearance of food can influence how much people eat but the sounds of eating could influence, too. It turns out that the more an individual hears the sound of mastication, the less likely he or she will eat food, which has been called the "crunch effect."

Researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) and Colorado State University (CSU) said being a loud eater could help an individual adopt a better eating habits because the sound of mastication could make people conscious. This could then lead to less consumption of food. "For the most part, consumers and researchers have overlooked food sound as an important sensory cue in the eating experience," Gina Mohr, coauthor of the study said.

The 'Crunch Effect': Tuning In To Food Sounds May Help You Eat Less, Lose Weight https://t.co/FFpA9MCRHR #health #medical

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Researcher Ryan Elder added in a press release sound is typically labeled as forgotten food sense. However, the research found out that if only people focus on the sound of food makes, the consumption of food could be reduced.

The researchers came up with the conclusion after conducting an experiment to a number of individuals. The team found out that those individuals who ate food with intense sound of mastication ate less. While those people exposed to louder sounds like TV and music while eating consumed more food.

Therefore, listening to loud music or watching loud TV while eating food can mask eating sounds that can keep an individual in check. And eating while listening to mastication: chewing, chomping, and crunching can reduce food consumption.

"When you mask the sound of consumption, like when you watch TV while eating, you take away one of those senses and it may cause you to eat more than you would normally," Elder concluded.