Holy guacamole!
Researchers at Penn State University have discovered a disastrous link between dips and caloric intake.
They found that snackers consume 77% more calories when eating chips served with dip than just chips alone — plus they eat the chips faster.
“The most striking findings of our study is that people didn’t eat fewer chips when dip was available — they ate the same amount of chips, plus the dip,” said John Hayes, professor of food science and director of the Penn State Sensory Evaluation Center.
For the study, 46 adults visited the center twice over a two-week period. During one visit, they were served three small bags of ranch-flavored chips. On another, they were given the same amount of chips and a 1/3 cup of ranch.
Test subjects were encouraged to eat as much as they wanted while researchers recorded the number of bites taken and time spent eating.
The team assumed that adding ranch to the snack offering would cause participants to eat fewer chips to offset the addition.
However, contrary to the compensation theory, participants ate the same amount of chips and the savory spread.
Hayes noted, “This lack of compensation means that adding dip can substantially increase overall energy intake without people realizing it.”
Volunteers consumed 345 calories of chips and dip per snack session on average, compared to 195 calories when they ate just chips.
When chips and dip were served, the surveyed snackers also took larger bites and ate at a faster rate.
The findings were published in the November issue of Food Quality and Preference.
Hayes, corresponding author of the study, maintains that understanding the motives and methods of snacking is critical to addressing overeating and obesity — a global problem.
As of 2022, more than 1 billion people — 43% of adults — were living with obesity across the world.
Hayes hopes that “this research opens up new avenues for exploring how the physical properties of foods can influence our eating behaviors and, ultimately, our energy intake.”
He added: “If we can slow people down, we can influence energy consumption without giving up the pleasure from food.”
And evidence shows that we are a nation of overweight folk and of dedicated dippers. A 2022 survey of 2,000 adults revealed that six in 10 are not ashamed to eat spoonfuls of dip right out of the container.
If they had to choose a vessel to deliver their dips, participants opted for tortilla chips (40%), vegetables (36%), potato chips (38%) or pita bread (32%).
The same survey found that people love dips so much that 35% would happily replace a typical lunch meal with their favorite spread. Indeed, an adult typically does this about five times a month.
