Whenever you sit down to have a meal, you are surrounded by plenty of distractions. Whether you’re at home, your office canteen or a restaurant, a TV will be blaring in the background or music might be playing. If not that, you will be surrounded by groups of people having loud discussions.

When you’re busy watching TV or listening to music or even engrossed with the constant buzz of  conversations going on around you, studies have found that you are far more likely to consume more food and therefore, put on more weight in the long run.

Researchers say that those who eat in silence or quieter places actually tend to eat lesser food than those who eat most of their meals in a noisy environment. Do you find that hard to believe? A 2016 study published in the journal Food Quality and Preference came up with the term ‘crunch effect’. This refers to the chewing and chomping sounds you make while eating.

Basically, the crunch effect is about listening to the various crunching and chewing sounds you make while consuming your food as that makes you a lot more mindful of what you’re eating and researchers claim that it has a significant impact on how much food you actually eat [1].

This study was conducted by researchers at Colorado State University and Brigham Young University where researchers found that the ‘crunch effect’ makes people eat less, provided they are fully conscious of the sounds they make while eating [1]. In this study, the researchers divided people into two groups. One group was told to eat food while listening to music through headphones while the other group ate their food in silence.

They then observed that those who were listening to music consumed twice as much food as compared to those who were eating quietly. So the next time you are eating, be conscious of not only how your food looks and tastes, but also how it sounds while you’re chewing on it. Take your time while chewing and make an effort to also listen to your food while tasting it. This will help in reducing your food consumption which will in turn aid in faster weight loss.