If you also decide to fill one small bowl of chips every time, only to end up with an empty bag, you are certainly not alone. Why is it that chips are so irresistible and that the bag is empty every time before you even realize it?
We’ve all ended up with an empty bag of chips or an empty pack of cookies – several times – despite pledging to ourselves to stay away from them or to eat just one. Opening a bag of chips usually ends with a feeling of guilt: before you know it, only crumbs are left. You sometimes hear ‘bottom urge’. It is said jokingly, but often with a slight undertone of shame, because no one can explain why that last chip had to be eaten even though there had been no hunger for a long time.
Irresistibly delicious
The fact that you carefully close that bag of chips, open it again within a minute “for a final touch”, and then repeat that action again, has to do with three different culprits: fat, salt and sugar. “Food such as chips is tasty, salty, fatty and creamy or crunchy,” says obesity researcher Jutka Halberstadt (VU University).
Salt creates a nice sensation when a chip comes into contact with your tongue and produces a ‘flavor explosion’. The fat from the oil in which chips are fried gives a reaction in the brain that makes us feel good. The sugar that is – yes, also – in chips contributes to the irresistible and addictive effect. “The mouthfeel that this combination creates is almost irresistible, which tempts you to continue eating and therefore overeat.”
Manufacturers spend fortunes investigating what the perfect cracking factor of a chip is.
The ‘crunching factor’ of chips also contributes to continuing to take hands. Manufacturers spend fortunes investigating what the perfect cracking factor of a chip is. When chips crunch less and instead seem to melt on your tongue, as is the case with a bag of Cheetos, your brain is slower to receive a signal that you are actually full. If something melts quickly, your brain thinks it doesn’t fill you much and that you can keep eating it.
Finish your plate thoroughly
“Of course it is about much more than just how ‘tasty’ those chips are,” says professor Anne Roefs, who researches the psychology of eating behavior at Maastricht University. “A lot of this overeating has to do with eating habits. Growing up, some people were always told by their parents to finish their plate, even when they actually had enough. In addition, in general: the larger the portion on your plate, the more you eat. The feeling of satiety comes in much slower than the rate at which you eat food.”
Your environment also makes a difference. “Are you among small eaters? Then you automatically eat less because you suddenly become very aware of the extra bites you take when your company has stopped eating for a long time.” And there it comes mindless eating by watching: eating while doing something else. “If you eat unconsciously, you will feel less confident that you are actually full.” When you open that bag of chips and are watching a movie or series or scrolling on your smartphone, you will sometimes be much less aware of what you have already eaten. And before you know it you are at bowl number three or the last.
In the case of chips, this ‘mindless eating’ can be explained by similar processes in the brain that make continuing to eat chips compared to a drug addiction. Scientists experimented with this and came to the conclusion that eating chips activates the reward centers in the brain, making us inclined to eat them again quickly. Not everyone is equally sensitive to this, which may explain why one person can leave that bag of chips untouched, while you prefer to snack on everything.
Scientific research shows that eating chips activates the reward centers in the brain, making us inclined to eat even more.
If you recognize yourself in this, you shouldn’t worry, according to Roefs. “It is very human to continue eating,” she says. “If you are healthy and you eat once in a while, that is not a problem. But is your resolution to eat less? Then an excuse like bottoming certainly doesn’t help. Compare it to emo food. Don’t fool yourself and reward yourself in some way other than food. And make sure you aren’t tempted too easily. For example, put the bowl of chips further away.”
Or just put that bag of chips back in the cupboard. And do you feel the urge to eat to the bottom? Then try the trick again with a smaller bowl, the bottom will also come into view at some point.
Also read:
Which pepper chips are the tastiest? 3 out of 10 bags were blown: “Taste is poor, these are not real chips” (+)
Are you an emo eater? Dietitian explains when it becomes a problem and shares 5 easy tips to stop binge eating (+)
Almost 50% of Belgians have too high cholesterol: dietitian separates 9 facts from myths to get rid of it (+)
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