First bites, most calories: what we eat most of when we’re hungry

By Susan Bowerman , September 27, 2012

The foods you eat first at a meal can affect how many calories you eat overall.

Picture this: it’s lunchtime, and you’re really, really hungry.  You woke up late, you skipped breakfast, and you’ve been going all morning without a chance to grab a snack.  It’s finally time to eat, and you’re facing a buffet – some starchy foods, some proteins, and some veggies.  You load up your plate, sit down, and raise your fork – anxious to dig in.  Now, imagine what happens next, as you stare down at your meat, your starch and your vegetables.  Which food do you dive into first?

Chances are good that you picked the starch – or maybe the protein – but probably not the vegetables.  While it’s been known for some time that people tend to eat more when they get overly hungry, no one had – until recently – ever really paid attention to what foods people choose after a long stretch without eating.  But a new study ¹ aimed to do just that – find out what really hungry people eat first – and what they eat the most of – after 18 hours without food.

Study subjects were divided into two groups – half were asked to fast for 18 hours, while the other half didn’t.  They were then brought to a buffet laid out with a couple of starch, protein and vegetable choices, and the researchers looked at what they served themselves, what they ate first, and how much they ate altogether.

You might expect that those who hadn’t eaten for 18 hours would help themselves to larger portions from the buffet than those who didn’t – and you’d be right.  But the other noticeable thing was this – compared with those who hadn’t skipped a meal, the meal skippers also ate the higher calorie items on their plates first.  And, they also ate more of the food that they chose to eat first – nearly 50% more than those who didn’t fast.  In other words, those who went too long without eating took in a lot more calories not only because they took too much food to start with, but also because they filled up on the highest calorie foods first.

For those trying to control their calories, there’s some food for thought here.   For starters, it’s pretty much a given that if you go too long without eating, you’re likely to eat more than usual when you finally sit down to eat – and, given the chance, you’ll probably serve yourself more food than usual to start with, too.  Right there, you’re setting the stage to take in more calories than you ordinarily would.  But if, as this study suggests, you’re also more likely to dig into the highest calorie items on your plate first – you could wind up taking in a lot more calories overall  than if you made a point to eat the low calorie items first.

Now, you might be thinking – so what?  If I’m going to eat the whole plate of food anyway, what difference does it make if I eat my noodles before my broccoli?  Good point.  But here’s the thing:  you might not eat the whole plate of food if you eat the lowest calorie food first.  As you fill up on the low calorie broccoli, you might end up eating fewer of the high calorie noodles – and fewer calories for your meal overall.

¹ Wansink et al. Arch Int Med 172(12)2012

Written by Susan Bowerman.  Susan is a paid consultant to Herbalife.