Could supermarket receipts help you LOSE WEIGHT?

Could supermarket receipts help you LOSE WEIGHT?

Supermarket receipts may one day show the total amount of calories, sugar, fat and salt in your shop.

Using a traffic light system coloured green, amber or red, consumers will be able to gauge how healthy their weekly shop is with just a glance.

Researchers believe this will help people see where in their diet they could improve and tailor future shopping trips to be more healthy.

Lead researcher Matthew Cole from Birmingham City University, said: 'Current evidence suggests that whilst consumers generally find the traffic light nutrition labelling useful, there are limitations, particularly when considering a person's overall nutritional intake.

'A new receipt-based system could bridge this gap, and provide an additional to ol to help aid consumers in their food purchases, providing an overall summary of their entire food purchases.' 

Supermarket receipts may show the total amount of calories, sugar, fat and salt in your shop

CUTTING OUT MEAT NEARLY DOUBLES WEIGHT LOSS BY CHANGING HOW WE STORE FAT 

Dieters who follow a vegetarian eating plan lose nearly twice as much weight as calorie-restricting meat eaters, research revealed last month.

Cutting 500 calories a day and adopting a plant-based diet results in an average weight loss of 13.67lbs (6.2kg) after six months, compared to 7.05lbs (3.2kg) in meat eaters, a study found.

Researchers believe this may be due to vegetarian diets changing our fat storage and insulin sensitivity, as well as making us feel more ener gized, which encourages people to stick to their eating plan.

Lead author Dr Hana Kahleova from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC, said: 'A diet built around plants is naturally rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, which leaves us feeling energized and refreshed instead of hungry and fatigued.

'Part of the reason a vegetarian diet works so well for many people is because it's easy to stick to.' 

Findings supporting the concept  

Researchers from Birmingham City University revealed that 83 per cent of people use the traffic light system when purchasing processed food.

The traffic light system labels food as green, amber or red depending on the amount of fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt it co ntains.  

The researchers believe providing an overall summary of a shoppers' purchases will allow them to better take control of their health.

More than half of shoppers would like to see their food purchase's nutritional summary displayed on their receipt, the study found. 

The majority of those asked claimed health is the most important aspect when making food choices, which suggests that such a receipt could be valuable in changing people's food shopping habits, according to the researchers.

It is hoped that the new concept could also be incorporated into supermarket self-scanning devices, which could track the nutritional value of a consumer's trolley as they shop and offer up healthier alternatives. 

What the researchers say  

Lead researcher Matthew Cole said: 'Current evidence suggests that whilst consumers generally find the traffic light nutrition labelling useful, there are limitations, particularly when considering a person's overall nutritional intake.

'A new receipt-based system could bridge this gap, and provide an additional tool to help aid consumers in their food purchases, providing an overall summary of their entire food purchases.' 

The concept will be presented as part of the National Childhood Obesity Week.

It is unclear when such receipts could potentially be made available.  

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