Getting fat after a breakup is a myth, according to a new study

We know history because we have seen hundreds of times in the cinema: after a break it only remains to sit on the couch with a blanket and a giant jar of vanilla ice cream withn macadamia nuts and cry bitterly while watching television. With such a calico, it is normal that we gain a few kilos, because "the penalties with bread are less", and it is a vicious circle, because when we gain weight and see ourselves zero attractive (the problems of normative beauty) we don't have enough confidence to look for another potential couple. We do not turn the page.

But what if everything is really a lie as a result of collective imaginary? According to an investigation published in the 'Journal of the Evolutionary Studies Consortium', there really aren't so many people who add to your waist boats and ice cream cans, at least not as many as the movies They insist on making us believe.

All the truth

Marissa Harrison, associate professor of psychology in Penn State Harrisburg, conducted two studies (although it is hard to believe) on the subject and in both, the results were very similar. In the first of them, they made a sample with 581 people, 261 men and 320 women, with an average age of 30 years: they were asked if they had recently gone through a breakup, how they felt and what it was his attidude with regard to food in general (based on whether or not they were prone to eat a lot of food). Almost two-thirds of respondents reported that they had not suffered any change in weight.

As for the second study, they decided to make a totally different sample with new participants. This time were 261, with participation of 193 women and 68 men, with an average age of 29 years. They were asked deeper questions: how intimate had the relationship been? What started the breakup? How did they feel today about your ex? And, of course, what was his attitude towards food in general. The truth is that more than half reported that they had not undergone any change in weight. The only apparent change was that women who tthey had a tendency to overeat They emotionally gained weight after the breakup.

The reason we eat when we are sad is that humans usually choose fatty foods to alleviate melancholy

Is it then a stereotype of pop culture or an evolutionary instinct that we have overcome? "The food was scarcer for our ancestors, "Harrison says in a statement to 'Best Life'." So if your partner was leaving you, it could mean that collecting was much more complicated. So, they may accumulate it after a break up, But due to this fact. While it is possible that after leaving it with your better half you spend one or two days based on ice cream to drown your sorrows, modern humans we don't tend to gain weight after a breakup. "

Perhaps the next question would be why we eat when we are sad, but since there is an answer to everything and a study for each case, there is also an answer: according to a study in 'The Journal of Clinical Investigation'The emotional effect of food helps humans survive when food is scarce, however, in an environment where we have possible food, it can lead to weight problems, the reason? We usually choose fatty foods to alleviate the sadness, because according to magnetic resolution images used with a sample of people, fatty food reduce activity in parts of the brain related to the feeling of affliction. But don't go over with ice cream, just in case.