Do you enjoy Instagramming about food? Recent research finds that posting or consuming too many images of food can make your meal less enjoyable to eat.

Researchers at Brigham Young University found that sensory boredom may contribute to a loss of appetite through over-exposure to food imagery as it increases people’s satiation.

Published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, researchers recruited 232 people to look and rate photographs of food. Researchers found that people who had looked at the salty foods in photographs ended up enjoying their peanuts less. This effect was the strongest when participants looked at the images more.

Though the researchers discussed that the effect is only present when you look at a high number of images of food; skimming through a couple of food photos will likely not create a satiated effect.

So what does this mean? Perhaps the next time you’d like to enjoy your meal, avoid looking at food posts on Instagram; and if you’d like to curb your appetite, look at as many food posts on Instagram.

What do you think? Does looking at food  posts on social media like Instagram make you more hungry or less? Leave your comments below!

 

Journal Reference:

Jeffrey S. Larson, Joseph Redden, Ryan S. Elder.Satiation from Sensory Simulation: Evaluating Foods Decreases Enjoyment of Similar Foods. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2013; DOI:1016/j.jcps.2013.09.001