Yahoo TV

Brits spend 38,000 hours in front of the TV in a lifetime, according to research. The average person settles down in front of the box for 99 minutes a day - the equivalent of more than four years. It also emerged 83 per cent like to eat while watching TV – with dinner being the most common meal consumed in front of the entertainment. The research was commissioned by U, UKTV’s new free streaming service, which launches on 16th July and teamed up with a food scientist to create a ‘TV Dinners for U’ restaurant [https://TVDinnersForU.eventbrite.com], featuring scientifically paired food with a curated list of a range of its TV shows, in London on Wednesday July 17th. Dr Stuart Farrimond identified five television genres to base his ‘TV Dinners’ menu on, finding that factual and real-life shows need calming food which support brain health and increase blood flow, such as salmon and beetroot to alleviate stress of watching. While crime dramas pair best with foods that evoke intrigue and concentration, like fajitas, beans, matcha and dark chocolate to help following the action.