The Surprising Way to Eat Healthier

Make this supermarket swap: Carrying your groceries instead of pushing a cart could lead to healthier food choices, according to a new study from Harvard University.

When given the option to eat either a healthy fruit snack or a chocolate square, people who wore heavy backpacks on their shoulders chose the fruit 78 percent of the time, while just 48 percent of those carrying lighter loads made the more nutritious choice.

It turns out that carrying something heavy actually increases your feelings of guilt, explains study coauthor Maryam Kouchaki, Ph.D. Why? Across cultures and languages, guilt is almost universally associated with feelings of heaviness, Kouchaki says. Think of common expressions like “shouldering guilt” or “this is weighing on me.”

“When individuals feel weighed down, there’s overlap between that physical sensation and the emotional experience of guilt,” Kouchaki says. And because of that overlap, carrying excess weight causes you to make less guilt-inducing choices.

Put this study to work for you by carrying a grocery bag or hand basket while you shop, Kouchaki suggests. Lugging around a heavy basket has the same effect as wearing a bulky backpack—when you haul that extra weight, you’re more likely to choose healthier foods.