The Danish study showed that mental stress of work at the computer may cause changes in blood sugar levels and certain hormones, and so deceive our brains, who would believe that the body spent a lot of calories. The brain will then send signals that these calories should be compensated.

Right about this time we feel an insatiable desire for chocolate, biscuits and similar sweets . Apart from a long day at the office, which consists mostly of sitting at the computer, similar effects are with computer games and watching television, says Jean-Philippe Chaput, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, the study’s lead author.

He advises that employees that spend long hours at the computer should have a break from staring at the screen.

Chaput has come to an idea that led to this investigation after he watched his boss eat Tamani chocolate biscuits while working at the computer.

His team divided the students into two groups: one had to summarize the default text for a computer, while another group of patients resting for 45 minutes. After the “tasks”, they offered them food in the buffet.

People who worked on the computer consumed only three calories more than other subjects, but they ate significantly more food after its task. Specifically, they consumed an additional 230 calories , and the most popular were the chocolate and greasy foods.

The Danish experiment showed that the consequences of the computer are large fluctuations in blood sugar, as well as growth hormone starvation. Consequently, students have become greedy for food, which they did not need.

Next time you sit for the computer, have the supply of healthy snacks such as nuts or fruit, and feel free to forget about the expanding waistline.