How lighting affects what we eat

It seems that dining in well-lit rooms makes us more likely to order healthy foods — not because we are worried that others will see what we eat but because we are more alert in well-lit environments.

Those dining in well-lit rooms are about 16–24% more likely to order healthy foods than those in dimly lit rooms, according to Dipayan Biswas, PhD, University of South Florida, who was the lead author of the study published in the Journal of Marketing Research. “We feel more alert in brighter rooms and therefore tend to make more healthful, forward-thinking decisions,” explained the lead author.

This may help counteract the fact that dining in low-light environments makes us eat more slowly and consume less!

First, the researchers surveyed 160 restaurant patrons at four casual chain restaurant locations. Half of those diners, who were seated in brighter rooms, were more likely to choose healthier options (such as grilled/baked fish, vegetables or white meat) over relatively unhealthy items (such as fried food or dessert). Furthermore, sales records showed that those in dimly lit rooms actually ordered 39% more calories. In four additional lab studies involving 700 college-aged students in total, the researchers replicated these results.

The follow-up studies also showed that when diners’ alertness was increased with the use of a caffeine placebo or by simply giving a prompt to be alert, those in dimly lit rooms were just as likely as their peers in brightly lit rooms to make more healthful food choices. From this, the researchers conclude that the main reason that we make healthier choices in well-lit spaces is because we feel more alert.

Lighting is used to create ambience and enhance the dining experience, which is why many restaurants have dim lights. “Dim lighting isn’t all bad,” said co-author Brian Wansink, PhD, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab and author of Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life, “despite ordering less-healthy foods, you actually end up eating slower, eating less and enjoying the food more.”

So, what’s the real takeaway here? According to Dr Wansink, doing what you can to make yourself feel alert is the best way to avoid overindulging when “dining-in-the-dark”.

However, it is not only the lighting that affects what we order and eat in restaurants — in separate research Dr Wansink found that if the waiter had a higher BMI diners were four times as likely to order desserts and they ordered 17.65% more alcoholic drinks.

Who knew that choosing food in a restaurant was so fraught?