Photo Courtesy of Julio Cortez via AP

The Super Bowl is one of the biggest days of eating in America. In fact, a conservative estimate suggests that people eat, on average, 2,400 calories from start to finish. Super Bowl spreads are saturated with pizza, wings, dips, and everything for the “big game”. However, research suggest that, for some people, the binging does not end on Sunday.

This week in The Salt, Maria Godoy explores a study by Rachel Herz of Brown University that suggests that the team people root for affects how they eat the day after the game.

People who cheered for the losing team are more likely to continue eating unhealthily the following day.  Herz says that the negative emotions people have after a team loses causes them to turn towards foods that trigger endorphins. “Foods that are high fat and high carbohydrate give you dopamine and endorphins and serotonin. And it’s dopamine, in particular, that’s the reward-and-pleasure neurotransmitter. And endorphins actually soothe our pain, both physically and mentally. The higher in fat the food is, the more endorphins you’re going to experience with that.”

Inversely, people whose favorite team won actually make healthier choices on the Monday after the Super Bowl. These people tend to have an adrenaline rush that keeps them from feeling hungry. In Herz words, “It’s akin to when you’re really excited — like when you’re in love, or you’re so excited about what’s going on you sort of forget to eat. From a neuro-chemical perspective, your body is actually feeling the sort of high that you feel like you don’t even need food, so your appetite is reduced.”

So if you blew your diet this week, you can always blame Tom Brady.

-CEM

For more information, check Maria Godoy’s article, “Game Brain Science: How Your Super Bowl Team Plays Can Sway What You Eat”.

For more in food news, check The Salt by NPR.