When you’re eating something delicious, it can be hard to stop yourself, even when you’re full. But scientists from China have determined that a simple hack could keep you from overeating. And it all comes down to how you put food on your plate.
The researchers suggest that the key to eating less could be in how you plate it. They’ve found that cutting food into small pieces and spreading it out across a dish can trick your brain into thinking you’re eating more than you actually are. According to their study, this works because most people’s meals are determined by portion size instead of how full they feel, so the scattered food helps “individuals to make more rational portion size decisions.”
So even if it’s the same amount of food on the plate, people perceive it as more when it’s spread out with space in between than when it’s gathered together. Researchers conclude that scattering the smaller chunks makes it easier to avoid overeating, which could in turn help prevent weight gain. This could be especially helpful as the CDC reports that 41.9% of U.S. adults are obese, which puts them at risk for health conditions including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.
Source: NY Post