According to a report by the U.S. Wall Street Journal, a new British study indicates that an unhealthy diet is not only harmful to your physical health but can also lower your emotional intelligence, making you more likely to misinterpret the information conveyed in others' facial expressions.
This study from Aston University, UK, was the first to find a link between unhealthy eating habits and the ability to recognize facial expressions.
Researchers invited 80 women aged 20-30 to participate in the study. Among them, 40 participants had a high level of eating disorders, such as dissatisfaction with their body, a desire to lose weight, or suffering from binge eating disorder. The other 40 women were in a control group with a low level of eating disorders.
During the study, researchers showed the participants 160 photos of human faces displaying varying intensities of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, and disgust.
The results showed that the participants with a high level of eating disorders correctly identified significantly fewer expressions than the control group. They frequently mistook angry expressions for sad ones, and fearful expressions for angry or sad ones.
Statistically, those who misjudged facial expressions were mostly individuals dissatisfied with their bodies, who were the least accurate in interpreting ambiguous expressions. The researchers stated that this finding suggests that people with high levels of eating disorders have a poorer sensitivity to subtle changes in facial expressions. The researchers added that the impaired ability to recognize facial expressions may be due to brain abnormalities caused by eating disorders.