Playing, watching sports carry risks

We all know that weekend warriorism comes with certain risks, especially the occasional strained hamstring, twisted ankle or sore shoulder.

Now comes word, backed by scientific research, that watching football can hurt you too.

Researchers Yann Cornil and Pierre Chandon found that we eat more food that’s bad for us after our team loses. Their research is published in the journal Psychological Science.

From mensfitness.com:

People living in cities of losing teams inhaled about 16% more saturated fat versus what they normally ate. On the other hand, fans of winning teams consumed 9% less saturated fat than their usual Monday meal plan.

But there is hope

Cornil and Chandon found that if losing fans immediately jot down what was important to them — in other words, adopting an it’s just a game mentality — they were less likely to use bad eats as a coping mechanism.

I see two takeaways here: Back a winner on the gridiron. And for Chicago sports fans, let’s be happy they didn’t study baseball.

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