The Snacking Trick You Fall For

Soft foods, soft stomach? Unless you’re focused on counting calories, you tend to mindlessly munch more food if you’re eating something with a smooth or soft texture, shows new research from the University of South Florida.

When people were preoccupied by TV ads, those snacking on soft-baked brownies gobbled down 37 percent more of the treats than eaters who chose crunchier options. Why? Soft foods require less chewing than hard foods. And chewing not only slows down the speed of your snacking, but it also signals to your brain that you’re getting full, explains study coauthor Dipayan Biswas, Ph.D.

But there’s a catch: If you’re actively focusing on the calorie content of your food, the reverse is true. People who were told to estimate the number of calories in the brownies ate 40 percent more of the hard, crusty bites compared to softer snacks. Biswas says eating experience teaches your brain that soft foods like butter, ice cream, and cheese tend to be higher in calories. 

So the takeaway here is twofold: If you’re going to eat while watching TV, surfing online, or doing any other distracting activity, soft snacks or desserts are trouble. But if you’re keeping tabs on calories, don’t let a dessert's crunchy or crispy texture fool your brain into thinking it’s not as bad for you as softer junk foods, Biswas says.

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