{"id":15081,"date":"2025-10-23T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/holistic.news\/en\/?p=15081"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:38:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T12:38:30","slug":"one-habit-tricks-your-brain-this-is-why-we-overeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/holistic.news\/en\/one-habit-tricks-your-brain-this-is-why-we-overeat\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is Why You Overeat: Scientists Point to One Habit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Beliefs Stronger Than Ingredients<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For years, we heard the same thing: chips, ready-made meals, sugary drinks\u2014these allegedly destroy our health. Ultra-processed foods (UPF) were blamed for everything: obesity, heart disease, and even dementia<\/strong>. The list of accusations grew faster than the research findings. But new analyses pose a shocking question: what if the biggest problem is not the food at all, but… something entirely different?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why We Overeat? Research from Leeds Scientists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scientists at the University of Leeds<\/strong> decided to check if the widespread blaming of food even makes sense. Instead of repeating worn-out slogans about “bad food,” they asked one surprisingly simple question: why do we snack on certain things so much\u2014and why is it so hard to stop eating them?<\/strong> The answer proved inconvenient because it targets not the food itself, but the way we think about it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Graham Finlayson’s team conducted three large studies involving over 3,000 British adults. Participants rated photos of 400 everyday products<\/strong>\u2014from baked potatoes and apples to ice cream and biscuits. They were asked two things: how much they liked the food and how likely they were to eat too much of it. The results were published in the journal Science Direct<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprising Research Findings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The study’s findings surprised the researchers. It turned out that the mere perception of food as sweet, fatty, or highly processed increased the likelihood of overeating.<\/strong> The actual composition and nutritional value<\/a> were of marginal importance. Products perceived as bitter or high in fiber had the opposite effect\u2014participants wanted to eat less of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most important conclusion from the study? The food’s composition is not the biggest influence on overeating.<\/strong> Scientists were able to predict seventy-eight percent of the tendency to eat beyond measure. How is this possible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n