Do you often eat with loud music, the television or a commotion around you? The conservative answer is yes: a noisy sound environment could encourage faster and less attentive eating. But this should not be made an automatic rule, nor a promise of weight loss.
Noise can mask useful cues during a meal
In the show “It’s going to be much better” on RTL, Frédéric Saldmann, cardiologist, nutritionist and author of popular works on health and food hygiene, puts forward a simple idea: when we eat in a lot of noise, we tend, according to him, to eat more and faster. His reasoning is based on a precise point: in calm, the sounds of chewing and food could help you stay attentive to what you are consuming.
This avenue exists in the literature, but it must be formulated with caution. The study by Elder RS and Mohr GS, published in Food Quality and Preference in 2016, known as the “crunch effect”, suggests that making food sounds less noticeable can increase the amount consumed in tests of crunchy snacks. This doesn’t prove that all noisy meals make you eat more, but it does support the idea that
food sounds can serve as a cue to monitor consumption.
The most solid point, for everyday life, is consistent with the advice from Health Insurance: take the time to eat, avoid eating too quickly while doing something else and give the brain time to pick up digestive signals, including chewing. In practice, eating too quickly can confuse satiety signals, especially when attention is focused elsewhere.
Loud music, dark room, difficult discussion: the atmosphere also matters
Frédéric Saldmann takes the example of certain “trendy” restaurants, with dim lighting and very present music, where it becomes difficult to discuss without raising your voice. According to him, this type of atmosphere can encourage eating more, because attention is diverted from the meal and bodily sensations.
Here again, it is necessary to distinguish association and causation. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in Nutrients in 2021 by Cui T. et al. observed a small positive association between music and food intake, but the results vary depending on the context. We cannot therefore conclude that a noisy and dark restaurant will automatically make people eat more, nor that this choice of atmosphere would aim to make people eat more.
In the column, the doctor also mentions salted peanuts served as an aperitif, which could stimulate the desire to snack. The nuance is important: salty snacks may encourage snacking because they are palatable and available before the mealbut their immediate effect on thirst or appetite is not systematically demonstrated. So this is an example of a food context, not general evidence.
Find calm, without transforming the meal into strict control
The useful advice is not to eat in absolute silence, nor to take out earplugs at every lunch. Frédéric Saldmann also says he tested earplugs in a noisy restaurant and ate less, but this experience remains a personal anecdote, not generalizable.
For everyday life, the objective is simpler: create conditions that help you slow down and better perceive satiety. This can involve some flexible adjustments:
- Reduce music or television during part of the meal;
- Choose, when possible, a table or a quieter moment;
- Pay attention to textures, chewing and the rhythm of bites;
- Take a break before refilling, to let the sensations emerge.
These gestures are part of a logic of attention to the meal, close to the idea of eating mindfully in a calmer environment. They can also help you listen to your satiety signals, without trying to control everything.
Noise is just one factor among many : appetite, weight and eating behaviors also depend on health, stress, sleep, social context, habits and sometimes medical monitoring. In the event of an eating disorder, an anxious relationship with food, a chronic illness or a prescribed diet, it is better to seek professional advice before changing your habits.