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Diet studies Small plates can help you lose weight
Many people who want to get rid of excess pounds try different diets or special remedies to help lose weight. Often the attempts are unsuccessful. It makes more sense to use certain diet tricks, such as using smaller plates. That this can make sense, have now confirmed researchers from Australia.
Small tricks help you lose weight
When people want to reduce their weight, they often try this with special eating habits. However, popular diets usually remain unsuccessful. Among other things, this has something to do with the so-called yo-yo effect: After starvation and weight loss, it quickly returns to a rapid weight gain. More useful are methods such as the Nebenbei diet, in which you can lose body weight without starvation or sport in the longer term by high-calorie foods are simply replaced by lower-calorie alternatives. For a long time, the trick with the smaller plates is recommended. As a result, one eats just less and thus decreases, say supporters of the "plate diet". Researchers from Australia now agree with them.
Small plates help with a diet. Image: Studio KIVI - fotolia Less food through smaller plates
Although experts have repeatedly advised in the past to smaller plates, which lead to a reduced consumption of food and to help with weight loss, but in various studies in recent years, this tip could not be scientifically proven. This has changed now. Researchers at the Australian Bond University came to the conclusion that smaller plates help to eat less. However, only if the eater is allowed to serve his own portion. The scientists around Natalina Zlatevska recently published their findings in the journal "Journal of the Association for Consumer Research".
More than 50 studies evaluated
The research team had evaluated over 50 studies that examined the effect of dish or bowl size on the amount of food consumed. It is said that the studies have looked at the most diverse aspects of plate sizes and eating habits, such as the effects of different foods such as snacks, cereals, ice cream, rice, vegetables or fruit. It was also the type of plate - whether shell, plate or platter - considered how much was consumed at a fixed serving size or when the study participants took their food themselves. Some of the examinations were carried out in laboratories, while others were served in a buffet-style restaurant, unaware that their behavior had been observed.
Eat best food yourself
The researchers found that study participants ate on average 30 percent less if they ate their meals from a smaller plate than usual. According to the researchers, the positive effect of the plate size occurred mainly under two conditions. On the one hand, it was shown that subjects consumed smaller amounts especially when they hung up their meal themselves. Furthermore, a positive influence was recorded when the testers did not feel observed. The latter could explain why many studies conducted in food laboratories did not find a plate size effect. Study author Natalina Zlatevska said that switching to smaller crockery "can also help at home to reduce portions". This could be an important contribution to weight loss. (Ad)