To eat, to move ... to light? Lighting would be one of the keys to healthy eating, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Marketing Research. The study focused on restaurant lighting and the results are clear: "Compared to cozy establishments, restaurant customers with well-lit dining rooms are 16-24% more likely to opt for dietary dishes.

The reason ? "We are more vigilant in a well-lit room, and we therefore tend to make healthier and more far-sighted decisions," says Dipayan Biswas, professor of marketing at the University of Southern California and lead author of the study. .

To achieve this result, the researchers asked channel customers to detail their meal. Balance sheet? Those who had lunched in dark establishments swallowed 39% more calories than those in bright establishments. In a second step, the researchers wanted to verify their results by testing a panel of 700 students: "All confirmed their observations. For example, if students thought they were receiving a caffeine pill (actually a placebo) or if the researchers explicitly asked them to concentrate before ordering, that was enough for a majority of them to choose the reason nutrition ", tells Slate.fr

Of course, more studies are underway to support this research. Note however that for Brian Wansink - also a signatory to this study - "eating in the dark is not totally bad. [...] Even if you order less dietetic foods, you usually eat less quickly and enjoy more.