Why 'Fitness' Foods Could Make You Fat!

In today’s world, there are multiple methods of losing weight apart from the traditional way of exercising. One such fad is of eating ‘fitness’ food. If you are trying to lose weight relying simply on "fitness" foods, it may backfire on you, says a new research.(6 Tips That'll Help You Lose Weight)There are many food products which have been branded as ‘fitness’ foods. This kind of branding encourages consumers to eat more of those foods and to exercise less, potentially undermining their efforts to lose or control their weight, the study said.(Soft Drinks Hinder Weight Loss: Study)"Unless a food was forbidden by their diet, branding the product as 'fit' increased consumption for those trying to watch their weight," said study author Hans Baumgartner from Pennsylvania State University in the US, and colleagues. "To make matters worse, these eaters also reduced their physical activity, apparently seeing the 'fit' food as a substitute for exercise," the researchers said.We can say that these food products are playing on the psyche of the consumer, making them believe that consuming these food products alone will make them fit. Hence they give up on exercising and working out. This in turn becomes detrimental for their health. (How to knock off stubborn office fat)The authors investigated the effects of fitness-branded food on consumption and physical activity in "restrained" eaters -- eaters who are chronically concerned about their body weight. Participants were given trail-mix style snacks marked either "Fitness" or "Trail Mix" with a picture of running shoes which was added to the packaging to make the "Fitness" snack appear even healthier.For those who were specifically trying to watch their weight, the effect of labeling was significant, causing them to eat far more of the snack marked "Fitness." Snackers eating the "Fitness" brand also chose to expend less energy during the exercise phase of the experiment.The study was published in the Journal of Marketing Research.Inputs from IANS