Big Bowl, Big Appetite, Unconscious Eating
Interesting insight on some new nutrition research.
How many of you believe that you’re in control of your portions, your ability to tell when you've had enough to eat, and how much you've had. If you’re like me, you’ll make a pot of soup that should last a few days and the next thing you know you have an empty pot sitting in front of you. It may seem silly but our conscious mind and our subconscious nature to consume copious amounts of delicious food may have a disconnect. Often our subconscious wins out even when we know we should be doing the opposite. A very interesting and insightful study recently illustrated this out of Cornell University.54 participants were recruited to eat soup in a study looking to see if they could trick people into eating more than they thought they had. The researchers brilliantly rigged half the bowls to inconspicuously refill soup as the participants ate. The other half had regular bowls. After the meal, they asked the participants questions such as how full they felt, how much they guessed they ate, and so forth.
Surprisingly the participants with the self filling bowls consumed 73% more soup. Even more intriguing was when asked about how much they thought they consumed they did not believe they had any more than the other half estimated. This is very interesting and proves that how important visual cues are to our appetite. How many times have you had a plate of food and felt obligated to finish it?
It is proven that the bigger the plates you use, the more you’ll eat. If you’re trying to cut back and lose a little weight I suggest that instead of starving yourself, you trick your mind into thinking it’s had more. Use smaller plates, shallow bowls, and start with a reasonable portion. Go back for more if you’re still hungry. It seems as if our conscious self can get a little out of control at times. With a little intuition, you can get the power back and control your appetite.
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