London - Temptation is lurking around every corner for dieters and many find that shopping for food is fraught with problems.
Now researchers have spelt out how disastrous it can be to go to the supermarket when you are hungry.
It will lead to you buying more and filling your trolley with foods high in diet-busting calories, they say.
Sixty-eight people who had skipped meals were either given wheat thins to reduce their hunger or not given any food, and then asked to make purchases at a simulated grocery store. The shoppers who had not been fed bought 18.6 percent more food including 31 percent more high calorie snacks.
The US researchers, from Cornell University in New York state, also observed a real grocery store during the hours between lunch and dinner - the hungriest hours -and the hours just after lunch, when people tend to be satiated, and found that late-afternoon shoppers bought fewer low-calorie foods proportionate to their overall purchases than those shopping after lunch.
Lead author Dr Aner Tal said: “It doesn’t matter why you skipped a meal, it can still make your nutritionist cry, making you buy more potato chips and ice-cream and less baby carrots and skimmed milk.”
The best advice to avoid this from happening?
“Make sure you don’t skip a meal, or at least have a snack like apples or cheese in your office,” says Brian Wansink, co-author of the paper.
“Breakfast is the most skipped meal, and even having something for lunch that has protein will cut your hunger edge.” - Daily Mail