Abstract
There is a complex connection between emotional states and food intake. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of short-term emotion induction on food intake and ghrelin, cortisol, and insulin levels in healthy normal-weight individuals without eating disorders. Eighty-nine participants were divided into 2 groups (drama and comedy movies). After 50 minutes of watching, the movie was stopped and blood samples were collected, and then participants were offered a snack to eat. The visual analog scale showed that the movie watching had significant effects on mood induction. However, there was no significant relationship between the kind of movie the participants had watched and their choice of food, its calorie content, or the amount of food (eg, grams) that was consumed. This parallel-design study found that a 50-minute exposure to either a dramatic or a comedy movie affected ghrelin, cortisol, and insulin levels. However, these hormonal changes were not associated with intake of food from a buffet during the last minutes of viewing.