--- title: Why You Might Be Overeating and What to Do About It description: Take a look at your kitchen. canonical: https://time.com/4232910/overeating-dirty-sink/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-23T13:00:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:11.843Z article:section: Health og:title: Why You Might Be Overeating and What to Do About It og:description: Take a look at your kitchen og:url: https://time.com/4232910/overeating-dirty-sink/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta24c50091f078928/69887e8a8e0601efc3464b46/dirty-dishes-sink.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6250 og:image:height: 3516 og:image:alt: dirty-dishes-sink og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why You Might Be Overeating and What to Do About It twitter:description: Take a look at your kitchen twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta24c50091f078928/69887e8a8e0601efc3464b46/dirty-dishes-sink.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Surprising Reason You Might Be Overeating and What to Do About It > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Know Right Now: The Dangers of 'Skinny Fat' [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: The Dangers of 'Skinny Fat'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nwMvhaug.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-11-10. Carrying fat around the midsection is dangerous, even if the person isn’t overweight, researchers say_ by [Megan Kennedy / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Megan Kennedy / Health.com Contributor Feb 23, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  Sink full of dirty dishes Sink full of dirty dishes Getty Images by [Megan Kennedy / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Megan Kennedy / Health.com Contributor Feb 23, 2016 1:00 PM UTC Do you struggle to resist the temptation of the cookie jar? Your cluttered countertops could be to blame. The results of a recent study by the Cornell Food and Brand Lab suggest that a [messy kitchen leads to more snacking](http://eab.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/01/28/0013916516628178.abstract). For the experiment, half of the study’s 98 participants (all women) were asked to wait for someone in a tidy, quiet kitchen. The other half were told to wait in a disorganized, loud one with a sink full of dirty dishes, newspapers strewn across the table and a phone ringing off the hook. Both kitchens had bowls of cookies, carrots and crackers. **_Health.com:_**[_How What You Have on Your Kitchen Counter Can Predict Your Weight_](http://news.health.com/2015/11/09/how-what-you-have-on-your-kitchen-counter-can-predict-your-weight/?xid=time) The women who waited in the messy kitchen ate twice as many cookies as the first group—which came to an extra 53 calories in 10 minutes. “Being in a chaotic environment and [feeling ](http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/OP/Cluttered%5FKitchens)[out of control is bad for diets](http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/OP/Cluttered%5FKitchens),” explained lead author Lenny Vartanian, PhD, in a press release. “It seems to lead people to think, ‘Everything else is out of control, so why shouldn’t I be?’” And if you’re already flustered when you walk into chaos (say, after a long, busy day), the effect seems to get worse. Some women in the study were primed with a writing exercise to feel stressed out beforehand, and when they entered the cluttered kitchen, they consumed 100 more calories than women who were primed to feel cool and collected. **_Health.com:_** [_How Putting a Mirror in Your Dining Room Might Help You Lose Weight_](http://news.health.com/2016/01/05/how-putting-a-mirror-in-your-dining-room-might-help-you-lose-weight/?xid=time) The silver lining? Having a calm mindset seems to counteract the urge to nibble on unhealthy snacks, even when your surroundings are anything but. [Meditation](http://news.health.com/2015/08/28/the-beginners-guide-to-meditation/) might be one way to help keep your hand out of the cookie jar, suggested co-author Brian Wansink, PhD, the director of the Food and Brand Lab, in the study’s press release. However, he points out, “it’s probably easier to just [keep our kitchens picked up](http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/OP/Cluttered%5FKitchens) and cleaned up.” [_This article originally appeared on Health.com_](http://news.health.com/2016/02/18/the-surprising-reason-you-might-be-overeating-and-what-to-do-about-it/?xid=time) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4232910/overeating-dirty-sink/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4232910/overeating-dirty-sink/"},"headline":"The Surprising Reason You Might Be Overeating and What to Do About It","datePublished":"2016-02-23T13:00:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:56:11.843Z","description":"Take a look at your kitchen","url":"https://time.com/4232910/overeating-dirty-sink/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","diet","Food","calories","Weight loss","health","eating","kitchen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta24c50091f078928/69887e8a8e0601efc3464b46/dirty-dishes-sink.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Kennedy / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta24c50091f078928/69887e8a8e0601efc3464b46/dirty-dishes-sink.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"dirty-dishes-sink","caption":"dirty-dishes-sink","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4232910/overeating-dirty-sink/","name":"The Surprising Reason You Might Be Overeating and What to Do About It"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: The Dangers of 'Skinny Fat'","description":"Carrying fat around the midsection is dangerous, even if the person isn’t overweight, researchers say","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nwMvhaug/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-10T15:39:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nwMvhaug.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4232910/overeating-dirty-sink/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4232910/overeating-dirty-sink/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```