We all hate people who fill their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with an endless cavalcade of poorly-focused food pictures, and now there’s proof that they’re making our lives worse, therefore making that hatred totally not irrational. Okay, maybe still a bit irrational.
A study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology found that viewing pictures of food makes you less likely to enjoy your next meal. Researchers at BYU divided 232 people into two groups, and asked them to rate images of food. One group was subjected to sixty images of deserts, and the other to sixty images of salty foods. Afterwards, both groups snacked on peanuts. Interestingly, the group of people who viewed images of salty foods found the peanuts less appealing than the group of viewed deserts. Researchers suspect that viewing too many images of food leads to sensory boredom, and whatever you’re eating after viewing too many images of food won’t taste as good as you imagined the food to be.
So, for the sake of your next meal, stop liking food pictures people post on Facebook, and, if possible, block repeat offenders. It’s for the good of gluttony everywhere.
