They were told to relax, while sitting, and were told that they would receive a meal at a specified time later. The types of foods that were laid out for the participants represented three different categories: sweet, salty, and bland. The experimenters separated thirty-four foods into low and high fat groups. (Richard Slusny, 1994). The participants ate freely for fifteen minutes, as allotted by the experiment. The test conductors weighed the food before and after the meals to see exactly how much food the participants ate. The timing was also well planned. The well-planned timing of the experiment took place around lunchtime. At the end of the study, the experimenters asked the participants to rate the stressfulness of the study. Nurses measured the blood pressure and heart rate of the participants to ensure that the participants were under some sort of stress. These nurses applied the same procedure to the control group to ensure these participants were free of stress. The experimenters then asked the participants to grade the photo of each of the thirty-four foods. They were then asked to rate from their appetite for each food in the photo at that moment. The participants rated the food after the stress tests and before the meal. The photos appeared in random order to make sure that the more appetizing foods were not placed one after the other. The participants, as required by the experiment, stated how much they liked a certain food on a scale of one to four.
The stressed eaters ate more sweet high-fat foods and a higher energy mean than unstressed eaters. This leads experimenters to believe that stress can damage one’s health because of the unhealthy foods the stressed person would eat. Stress negatively affects a person’s mental and physically being. The choice of energy-providers, or food, makes it worse when unhealthy foods are chosen. In conclusion, stress is bad for one’s health.
As stated above, a person should avoid stressful situations because stress leads to an unbalanced diet and unhealthy living. Active thinking, a better attitude at work, and gaining control in one’s life results from exercise. Medical authorities today agree on the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Everyone should attempt to exercise and eat healthy to accommodate and improve his or her physical condition and state of mind. .