Study: Edible "stop signs" remind us to eat less

atomiclauren
atomiclauren Posts: 689 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Thought this was interesting - out of Cornell and Yale Universities:

http://www.futurity.org/top-stories/edible-stop-signs-remind-us-to-eat-less/
As part of an experiment carried out with two groups of college students (98 students total) while they were watching video clips in class, researchers from the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab served tubes of Lays Stackables, some of which contained chips dyed red.

In the first study of the research, which is published online this month in Health Psychology, a journal of the American Psychological Association, the red chips were interspersed at intervals designating one suggested serving size (seven chips) or two serving sizes (14 chips); in the second study, this was changed to five and 10 chips.

Unaware of why some of the chips were red, the students who were served those tubes of chips nonetheless consumed about 50 percent less than their peers: 20 and 24 chips on average for the seven-chip and 14-chip segmented tubes, respectively, compared with 45 chips in the control group; 14 and 16 chips for the five-chip and 10-chip segmented tubes, compared with 35 chips in the control group.

They were also better able to estimate how many chips they had eaten. Those in the control groups underestimated the amount of chips they had consumed by about 13 chips. Those in the “segmented” groups were able to guess within one chip.

Replies

  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
    While a reminder of what a portion size is would certainly make some people think twice about continuing to eat, I bet most people just didn't want to eat a red chip.
  • sugar_cube
    sugar_cube Posts: 23 Member
    While a reminder of what a portion size is would certainly make some people think twice about continuing to eat, I bet most people just didn't want to eat a red chip.
    yeah, i think so. I'd probably stop eating the chips too.
  • OliveJuice1984
    OliveJuice1984 Posts: 45
    I know it costs more money but I don't buy "snacks" unless they are individual portion sizes. It eliminates my desire to just be a zombie eater and I have found that my brain really IS bigger than my stomach is. I'm amazes at the fact that when I eat the correct portion sizes I am not hungry like I thought I would be.
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
    I know it costs more money but I don't buy "snacks" unless they are individual portion sizes. It eliminates my desire to just be a zombie eater and I have found that my brain really IS bigger than my stomach is. I'm amazes at the fact that when I eat the correct portion sizes I am not hungry like I thought I would be.

    Snack size baggies and ten minutes portioning out a large bag of whatever does the same thing and is cheaper :)

    ...But I like to buy the pre portioned ones too
  • OliveJuice1984
    OliveJuice1984 Posts: 45
    I know it costs more money but I don't buy "snacks" unless they are individual portion sizes. It eliminates my desire to just be a zombie eater and I have found that my brain really IS bigger than my stomach is. I'm amazes at the fact that when I eat the correct portion sizes I am not hungry like I thought I would be.

    Snack size baggies and ten minutes portioning out a large bag of whatever does the same thing and is cheaper :)

    ...But I like to buy the pre portioned ones too

    Oh I do that too. But that was after I bought a scale and started weighing everything I eat. A few friends think I'm nuts and "too picky" which is why I like the indivdually packaged portion sizes. But I've come to grips with their thoughts on my scale....I'm the one losing weight and they aren't...*shrug* :)

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