People who eat nutritious and organic foods are more likely to exercise less and lose control of their weight, according to a recent study.

Researchers found that found that foods such as Clif Bars and Wheaties, whose packaging suggests that they promote fitness, encourages people to eat more of those foods and to exercise less, and may cause them to undermine their efforts to lose weight, UPI reported.

"Unless a food was forbidden by their diet, branding the product as 'fit' increased consumption for those trying to watch their weight," wrote researchers Joerg Koenigstorfer of Technische Universität München and Hans Baumgartner of Pennsylvania State University. "To make matters worse, these eaters also reduced their physical activity, apparently seeing the 'fit' food as a substitute for exercise."

For the study, researchers sought to investigate the effects of fitness-branded food on people's diet and physical activity in eaters who are overly concerned about their body weight.

Those recruited for the study were given rail-mix style snacks marked either "Fitness" or "Trail Mix." To make the "Fitness" snack appear even healthier, a picture of running shoes was added to the packaging. Volunteers were told to pretend that they were at home helping themselves to an afternoon snack, and were given eight minutes to taste and rate the product. Another phase of the study gave them the option to exercise as vigorously as they liked on a stationary bicycle after eating the snack.

For those who were specifically trying to watch their weight, the effect of labeling was significant, causing them to eat far more of the fitness-branded snack. Participants eating the "Fitness" brand also chose to expend less energy during the exercise phase.

"It is important that more emphasis be placed on monitoring fitness cues in marketing. For example, a brand could offer gym vouchers or exercise tips instead of just implying fitness via a label or image. Reminding the consumer that exercise is still necessary may help counteract the negative effect of these fitness-branded foods," researchers concluded.

The findings are detailed in the Journal of Marketing Research.