Is it better to eat while standing or sitting? It depends on whether you want to lose weight or gain weight

Written by Su Chengyu

Most people eat while sitting down. Very few people eat while standing. They either eat while walking on their way to work, or buy snacks on the street and eat while standing.

Standing noodle shops in Japan are mainly for the working class, and are cheap and convenient (Photo source: Gdayjapan)

In fact, in ancient Rome and Greece, people ate while lying down. The powerful and wealthy thought this way of eating was elegant... But today we won’t discuss eating while lying down. After all, eating while lying down (prone) is still very rare.

Although sitting down to eat and standing up to eat seem to be a matter of habit, it seems that eating the same thing should not make much difference. However, if you analyze it carefully, you will find that there is a difference in the impact of sitting down to eat and standing up to eat on the body.

Let’s first talk about the difference that posture makes to food calorie intake.

Some people think that eating while standing will consume more calories, so they think that eating while standing can help lose weight, but this is not necessarily the case.

When the human body is in a standing state, the energy consumed per hour is about 50 calories more than when sitting, but food can pass through the digestive system faster when standing, so it is easier to eat faster when standing and slower when sitting.

(Image source: giphy)

Eating slowly means you can eat less calories. Studies have shown that eating slowly can easily reduce appetite and increase satiety, so eating slowly while sitting is more likely to reduce the calories you eat in a meal. This may result in eating 88 fewer calories per meal.

Not only has scientific research proven this, but real-life eating competitions have also indirectly proven that eating while standing is easier to digest.

Every July 4th, a competitive eating contest is held at Coney Island in New York, USA. This year's champion is Joey Chestnut, who ate 63 hot dog burgers in just 10 minutes. His appetite is amazing. This is also his 15th championship in this competition.

Chestnut ate 63 hot dogs in 10 minutes. (Photo: Reuters)

If you watch their competition, you will find that not only the champions, but all the contestants will choose to eat hot dogs standing up, not for anything else, just to eat faster and more. Therefore, if you want to lose weight, it is recommended that you sit down to eat.

(Image source: gothamist)

It's not just the calorie intake that's different, there's also a difference in perception of whether the food tastes good when standing or sitting.

Dipayan Biswas, a professor of marketing at the University of South Florida, has been studying different environmental conditions and how small changes can alter a person's eating behavior.

He previously conducted an experiment in which he recruited hundreds of volunteers to participate in the experiment and asked them to eat pita bread (an Arabic food) made by the same chef, some standing and some sitting. Then he asked them to rate the food, with 1 being not tasty at all and 7 being very tasty.

Pita bread (Image source: Wikipedia)

The results showed that although they were eating the same flavor of pita bread, the scores for eating while sitting were significantly higher than those for eating while standing.

To verify the accuracy of the experiment, the scientists gave them the same brownie cakes and asked them to rate them again. The results were the same as last time, and the people who ate while sitting seemed to think their food tasted better and enjoyed it more.

Dr. Biswas believes the difference is because standing causes your blood to circulate faster, raising your blood pressure, which causes your body to release more of the stress hormone cortisol, and stress can make you less able to appreciate delicious food.

After all, who likes to stand around for nothing?

Not only standing, as long as you have pressure, whether it comes from work or life, you will feel that the taste is reduced. Therefore, if you want to better enjoy the food and enjoy the various taste pleasures that the food brings to your tongue, then it is recommended that you sit down to eat.

In short, sitting down to eat seems to have many benefits, not only can it reduce calorie intake, but it also allows you to better taste food. Of course, if you want to eat fast and want to gain weight, then eat standing up.

References:

Biswas, Dipayan, Courtney Szocs, Annika Abell, Hoegg, Joandrea, Johar, Gita V, and Kirmani, Amna. “Extending the Boundaries of Sensory Marketing and Examining the Sixth Sensory System: Effects of Vestibular Sensations for Sitting versus Standing Postures on Food Taste Perception.” Journal of Consumer Research (2019): Journal of Consumer Research, 05/11/2019.