It all depends on the price. For the same meal, you will not feel the same feeling of satiety or the same feeling of guilt depending on whether you paid dearly or not. According to social scientists from Cornell (New York, USA) and Marmara (Turkey) universities, people who pay a low price for an all-you-can-eat buffet feel more guilt but also greater satiety after the meal than those who paid a higher price, even if the quantity of food ingested was identical. Their work is published in the scientific journal BMC Nutrition.
Pay more for less guilt
The researchers followed 139 volunteers who went to lunch in a restaurant with an all-you-can-eat Italian buffet, which sometimes cost four dollars, sometimes eight dollars. After the meal, participants had to report their physical discomfort and guilt. They also had to mention whether they thought they had – or not – ate too much. Result: those who paid four dollars for the buffet felt more physical discomfort and thought they had eaten with more excess than those who paid double. Were the former more greedy than the latter? Not even ! For the same quantity of slices of pizzas and Italian dishes tasted, the first group reported a greater feeling of satiety but also greater guilt than those who paid more. So remember to take a good look at the menu prices before selecting your next restaurant. But you will have to resolve to choose between economy and the risk of guilt…
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