A recent study outlines a simple cut-food-up-and-eat-less strategy that may work as a painless weight-loss technique for dieters. The 301 study volunteers fasted overnight and skipped breakfast before the experiment began. Then they each were given a bagel and cream cheese. One group of participants got bagels that were whole...the other group got identical bagels, except that theirs had been cut into four pieces. After eating as much of their bagels as they wanted, they spent 20 minutes filling out questionnaires about food preferences—a delaying tactic, because it takes about 20 minutes after eating for the brain to get the message that the stomach is full. Next, each participant was invited to eat as much as desired of a complimentary lunch that included a turkey sandwich, veggies with dressing, crackers with meat and cheese, mozzarella sticks, pasta, potato salad and a cupcake.
Chocolate Lovers Weigh Less
A recent study found a five-to-seven-pound difference between people who ate chocolate five times a week, compared with those who didn't eat any.
Study of 1018 healthy adults, ages 20 to 85, by researchers at University of San Diego, published in An chives of Internal Medicine
Fascinating findings: Compared with participants who had received whole bagels, those whose bagels had been cut up ate 8% less of their bagels—but the real revelation was that they also ate 40% less of the big lunch! Apparently, the cut-up bagels had done a much better job of satisfying participants' appetites, so when offered additional food later, they were less tempted by it.
Especially in this era of out-of-control portion sizes, it's smart for us to make regular use of this simple tactic-cut up food to make it seem more plentiful and thus more satisfying. We have nothing to lose but weight.
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