How Often Do We Make Food Decisions, Really?

Pick and Choose: You’ve probably heard the claim that we make about 200 unconscious food decisions every day. It shows up in all sorts of advice about eating better and why willpower doesn’t always work. As compelling as that explanation sounds, researchers are now reexamining whether it reflects how people actually make food choices.

The Study: Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany revisited the claim, which can be traced back to a 2007 paper that counted food choices by breaking daily eating into many tiny actions. The new analysis concluded that the number, which depends heavily on how “decisions” are defined, overstates the extent of everyday decision-making. The researchers say that it reflects a cognitive bias rather than actual, real-life eating behavior.

The Takeaway: We have more autonomy over our eating decisions than previously thought. But the environment still matters. One practical strategy highlighted by the researchers is self-nudging, which involves arranging your environment so that better choices are easier to make (think leaving pre-cut fruit within reach in the refrigerator or placing sweets out of sight).