--- 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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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=bb476c72-1101-4cd4-ba26-5834c72695be&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## 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) ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```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"}}] ```