Smaller plates can help you lose weight

There are very few diet “tricks” that actually work. Eating less food is by leaps and bounds the most effective method for weight loss, but it’s obviously one of the hardest, since not only do we enjoy food but we often crave it, which overrides our better sense. A new paper from the University of Cambridge suggests that cutting portions by using smaller plates (or if you’re a food maker, producing smaller packages) would address much of the issue in the very simplest way. And they certainly have a point. Serving sizes have grown hugely over the last several decades, and just recalibrating what we think of as normal would go a long way toward addressing the obesity epidemic. This is certainly not a bad idea, since it speaks to the psychology of eating, but there’s another element at play – biology.

First, here’s what the authors suggest. People tend to eat what’s in front of them, and studies have found that people, not surprisingly, eat considerably more when they’re given larger plates and cups. It’s not quite clear why this is the case, but the brain seems to register a full plate as a single unit whether that plate is large or small. Therefore, the researchers suggest that methods like reducing the default plate and drink size, eliminating the largest package sizes of junk foods and soft drinks, and stopping the practice of discounting the largest sized items would go a long way to help people lose weight, or not gain it in the first place. The researchers argue that just eliminating the largest portion sizes in retail would reduce calorie intake by 12-16% in UK adults, and 22-29% in US adults. Clearly we’re ahead of Britain in super-sized portions.

While the logic of the suggestion is indisputably sound, there’s one issue that they don’t take into account: The addictive quality of some of the foods we eat. In other words, it’s not just the amount of what we’re eating but it’s also the content, since certain combinations trigger addictive behavior – and this element can override the sensible notion to stop eating when we’re full, even on a smaller plate.

Constance Scharf, PhD, Senior Addiction Research Fellow and Director of Addiction Research at Cliffside Malibu, points out that if you’re eating foods that are high in fats and sugars – the perfect combination to trigger a state of craving – then you’ll necessarily go back for more.