Study shows eating sugary, fatty treats can be good for you long term
How junk food can actually make you FITTER: Study shows eating sugary, fatty treats can actually have health benefits
- New study has shown people are more likely to hit the gym if they’ve indulged
- Health experts surveyed over 100 undergraduate women in Adelaide for test
- Subjects were given junk food then asked if they wanted to watch TV or work-out
- Researchers found three-quarters of women tested exercised after eating junk
Eating junk food is likely to keep you fitter long term because consuming it encourages people to exercise, a new study has found.
Researchers from Adelaide gave 100 undergraduate women the option to eat chocolate and chips or almonds and apricots and then the option to either go running or watch TV.
Women believed the junk food was extremely unhealthy, even though it contained the same amount of calories, sugar and carbohydrates as the healthy food they were given.
The study found three-quarters of women tested were more likely to exercise after eating the junk food instead of relaxing.
Researchers from Adelaide gave 100 undergraduate women the option to eat chocolate and chips or almonds and apricots and then the option to either go running or watch TV (stock photo)
Lead author of the study, Jasmine Petersen, from the SHAPE Research Centre, said people believe they need to engage in healthy behaviour to compensate for their unhealthy eating.
‘Simply engaging in a compensatory behaviour may be sufficient to alleviate any guilt experienced from engaging in an unhealthy behaviour, as opposed to attempting to negate the effects of that unhealthy behaviour,’ Ms Petersen said in the Appetite journal.
Ms Petersen said people were also unsure about how much they would need to exercise or eat healthy to make up for eating junk food or snacks.
‘While individuals believe it may be possible to balance energy intake and expenditure via compensation, the evidence suggests that the energy balance equation is more complex.’
The study found three-quarters of women tested were more likely to exercise after eating the junk food instead of relaxing (stock photo)
Director at Indi Active and personal trainer, Brie Reichman, said women especially feel guilty after eating junk food.
‘Personally, working with young females every day I’ve found that they’re more likely to count the day as a complete ‘ride off’ after eating ‘unhealthy foods,’ she told the Herald Sun.
She noticed some women are less likely to visit the gym because they feel like giving up after eating junk food.
Or she noticed others would be ‘on the treadmill trying to sweat out any sort of guilt from believing they have overindulged or feel the need to.’
But Ms Reichman said the key to a healthy lifestyle is finding a balance.
‘Building a solid, sustainable, flexible diet is what I am all about! Which certainly includes a cheeky espresso martini on the weekend with the girls.’
Women believed the junk food was extremely unhealthy, even though it contained the same amount of calories, sugar and carbohydrates as the healthy food they were given (stock photo)
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