We eat less in a red plate, we drink less in a long and thin glass, a white bowl gives an impression of sweetness. The dishes you use have an influence on the portions of food you ingest. How best to choose it to eat less? Here are some tips, to share without moderation!
Did you know that the color of the dishes influences the perception of taste? This is the subject of a study conducted by Charles Spence, a psychologist from the University of Oxford.
The psychologist’s team came to the conclusion that the color pink, for example, is spontaneously associated with softness. A strawberry mousse served in a white bowl is perceived as being sweeter than in a black bowl. We would also eat less on a red plate, because red is perceived as the color of danger and the forbidden.
Plate of a different color than what’s inside: -20% ingested
The contrast also plays a role in the quantity ingested. If the color of the plate contrasts with that of what is inside, the quantity of food ingested will be lower by approximately 20%. And if the color of the tablecloth contrasts sharply with that of the plate, consumption will be reduced by 10%.
So advise your patients to eat their natural yogurt in a colored bowl, for example. Or to eat on white plates, on a tablecloth or a colored placemat.
Eating with chopsticks on a small plate
We would eat up to 30% more food on a large plate. Indeed, the larger it is, the smaller the portions seem, the more it is filled! The size of the plate, but also of the serving glasses and cutlery, therefore has an impact on the quantity consumed.
You eat much more slowly with chopsticks. The satiety signal arriving 20 to 30 minutes after the start of the meal, eating with chopsticks would store fewer calories than with conventional cutlery.
Other tips: you drink less from a narrow, tall glass than from a wide, low glass. It is also a question of promoting heavy crockery (plates, bowls, cutlery, etc.), rather than plastic ones, the meal will seem better and more refined. And it also allows you to eat slowly, more consciously.
Source
Rowley J., Spence C. Does the visual composition of a dish influence the perception of portion size and hedonic preference. Appetite. 10.1016/j.appet.2018.06.005
