Beside taste and hunger level, food’s appearance plays a great deal in determining how much that you will eat. There’s a reason why meals at fine dining restaurant are always presented chicly. It’s because we tend to enjoy the food more when the food is presented beautifully. We don’t eat for the sake of our stomach solely; we also eat for our eyes. And sometimes, it’s the eyes which decide how much we eat instead of the stomach. So here are four visual factors which can affect our appetite.
1. Big Plate or Container
When we are given a plate and asked to take whatever food that we like, then we tend to fill the plate. Similarly, people tend to eat more when they are given a bigger container without realizing that they consume more than they usually do. People tend to count calories based on their eyes instead of their stomach.
A study published in Obesity Research asked people to eat their meal until they are full and then someday they were asked to eat blindfolded and they ate 22% less food without feeling less hungry. And no, I am not going to suggest that you eat while being blindfolded but I’ll suggest you to use medium or small sized plates if you haven’t used them.
2. No end signal
We tend to eat and eat until something tells us to stop. And the stop signal is often given by the package of our snacks instead of our stomach. Before we hit the bottom of the bag, we tend not to stop our eating.
In a research from Food and Brand Lab in Cornell University, the researchers carefully prepare two packages of crackers to be given to an entire class. One package consisted of one large bag containing 44 crackers while the other package contained four small bags each contained 11 crackers. The students who were given the large bags consumed than the one which were given the four small bags. Try to pour your snacks on a plate or bowl which you can measure and see easily and carefully store the leftover for future consumption.
By using bowl or plate, you can determine how much that you will eat and when that you will stop instead of letting the size of the packages decide it.
3. More Colors equals to more consumption
We like colorful food. It’s pleasant to both eye and our brain although they may not taste the same. That’s the reason also why people bother to color chocolate candies with various vivid colors although they don’t taste really different. Another research by Cornell University found that people ate more when they were given more varieties. They gave two groups of people two bowl of candies; the first one contained four colors while the other one contained six colors. The second group with more varieties of candies ate more candies.
4. Leftover
Beside the image of a clean plate after a meal, there’s one more thing which can deter us from overeating. It’s the leftover food. Study done by Cornell University asked two groups of people to eat chicken wings. The first group had the leftover bone stacked in the table while the second group had the leftover thrashed away immediately. As a result the first group ate . I guess stashing dirty plates may do the trick too if you have no objection whatsoever too uncleanness.
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