TV causes you to un-learn how to pay attention. Few people watch TV with the critical part of the mind. It has direct access to the subconscious. It dumbs us down – there’s no need to remember names and places, yet it’s still easy to follow the story. It teaches us all to think the same.

You are likely to eat more meals of much poorer quality if you watch TV, because of junk food advertising. But can TV cause you to eat more later on, as well?

Yes, that’s the result of some new research. It showed that people who ate lunch while watching TV did a lot of extra snacking during the afternoon, including a high intake of cookies (biscuits).

One reason is that memory becomes impaired. In the study, a group of women had lunch while watching a comedy show. When they were later asked what they ate, their recollection was fuzzy. They had lost their critical appraisal of exactly what they had eaten, and how much

This memory effect is in addition to the obvious effects of food advertising

The lesson here is the same one that longevity sages have been teaching for a thousand years.

Take time to focus on your food. Pay attention to what you are eating, and whether it feels and tastes good or not. Eat slowly, and chew and savour every mouthful. And get Ann Wigmore’s RECIPES FOR LONGER LIFE.

Television watching during lunch increases afternoon snack intake of young women. Higgs, S., Woodward, M., Appetite 2009 Feb;52(1):39-43.