Is Watching The Food Network Making You Gain Weight?

Okay, I'll admit I'm a sucker for cooking shows of all kinds. But as it turns out, these shows can also encourage you to pack on a surprising amount of weight. As in 10 pounds! (Say it ain't so!)

New Research from Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab found that people who watch food television and frequently cook from scratch weigh roughly 10 whole pounds more than home chefs who find their recipes online or from family/friends. In fact, finding food inspiration on social sites like Pinterest also led to higher BMIs.

Before you panic and delete your Pinterest account or stop watching Iron Chef - it's not the actual watching of the shows that's the problem but rather, trying to replicate what you see.

More often than not, the dishes on these forums tend to be pretty indulgent. It's also largely to do with portion sizing (in order for it to look pretty on screen - it's gotta be big). We try to mimic the look and often end up making way too much! And more often than not, even though it's made at home (so it must be healthy right?), if the recipe comes from primetime chefs, we're actually setting ourselves up to eat a pretty high-cal, low-nutrition dish.

So what now? Obviously pinterest and watch to your hearts desire, but when you want to try your hand at an as-seen-on-TV recipe, look for versions online or sneak in healthy ingredients. Better yet, save it for a cheat day (just be mindful of portion size!)