Portion Size. Does it matter?

[not2late]

Something to think about as we approach the holiday food season.......

Just because you have a 16 ounce steak on your plate doesn't mean you'll eat the entire steak during the meal, does it? I mean, you can just eat half of the steak or a quarter of it and be on your merry hunger-satisfied-don't-need-to-eat-anymore-way, right?

Guess again.

This study shows that the amount of food on your plate does indeed affect the amount of food you eat at that meal.

Portion size of food affects energy intake in norm... [Am J Clin Nutr. 2002] - PubMed result

The larger the portion size on the plate, the more the test subjects ate of it.

And this is also true for children. Children's bite size and intake of an entrée are g... [Am J Clin Nutr. 2003] - PubMed result

What's interesting about this study is that they also measure "bite size", that is the amount of food per bite. They found that the children ate more with larger portion sizes, but the number of bites they took were the same as the number of bites they took with the normal portion sizes. If it took them 6 bites to eat the normal portions, then it took them 6 bites to eat the larger portions. In other words, they crammed a larger amount of food into their mouths per bite.

[liv]

Thanks for posting this Megs

Another - sort of study - that is going around in the news this week is that variety makes us eat more - the buffet effect. I think the study suggests that
"when faced with a variety of food choices in one place, your eyes trick you into underestimating the quantities of each item, creating a tendency to overeat by about 10 per cent. The increase may not seem that significant on its own, but the study's researchers note that over the course of a year this "optical illusion" could lead to roughly 20 pounds of weight gain."
The buffet effect: Food variety could make you fat

this particular article also says that
"People will also often raise or lower their food intake by more than 20 per cent based on what the person beside them is eating"

I guess all this is food for thought as we head into the high eating season

[not2late]

Those are good estimates for portion sizes, Atkinsgal, but it still leaves much to be desired. For example, a small stack of business cards---what is that? Is it a 2 cm tall stack or is it a 4 cm tall stack? Or a medium hand---what is a medium-sized hand? Or what is a small child's hand? When my nephew was 7 years old, his hand was almost as big as mine and I would consider a 7 year old as a small child.

Liv, that's interesting about the food variety. I think it is true: it's easy to become overwhelmed at a buffet....and pile food on your plate, which you will eat completely. So it's a vicious cycle.

The researchers with the child study I posted took "the eating the same amount as the others around you eat" into account when they did their studies and they set up barriers so the children couldn't see what their tablemates were eating or weren't eating.

[atkinsgal08]

>>it still leaves much to be desired.>>

I can only type what Dr. Atkins wrote!

I can delete the post if you want. I was just trying to pass on information from Dr. Atkins.

Update: I deleted it since there were so many "qualifications" it was rendered "useless".

[not2late]

No you don't have to delete it. As I said, it's a good estimate for the times when you aren't at home and don't have your measuring equipment handy. But those estimates aren't something I would use daily....especially the grain or fruit measurements since we go by specific amounts of those foods as Dr. ATkins wrote we are to do.

[Suzanne_H]

What a great thread! I tend to finish my plate and always have, which means I'm full long before I realize it. The overstuffed feeling afterward is never pleasant. While weighing and measuring my portions is an inconvenience, it's necessary at least for a time until I learn how a normal portion looks on my plate. I find that using smaller plates helps trick my mind into accepting smaller portions as my new norm.... and oh buffets can be so dangerous. I just love going to those all-you-can-eat steak houses... and while I graze on legal steaks and legal veggies and legal salad and legal sugar-free jello... I'm still grazing nevertheless and still overeating.

One plate at a time I'm slowly learning new habits.

[jcapulet]

Thanks for posting this It's reminded me that I'm better off serving my meals on a smaller plate...a habit I forgot after I fell off the wagon a few years back.

[Aways2Go]

I've been eating off of salad plates or coffee saucers exclusively since July. I think it's extremely helpful. Hard to pile too much excess on a plate that size. And I usually find I'm full with that amount.

[nimbinpaul]

Im on OWL rung one and Im enjoying being able to eat fairly big, rich portions. What Im not looking forward to is going up the rungs and having to start to worry about portions sizes and weighing things. I like keeping it simple. Who was it said "too much choice leads to insanity"

The buffet affect.....!!
I cannot go anywhere near those things, I generally eat until I barely walk out of the place.
I hate when I go on holiday and buffet breakfast is included in the cost of the accommodation....not a good way to start the day.

hmmm

[Aways2Go]

I quit eating buffets a long time ago, because I never enjoyed them much. I always got a spoonful of all kinds of things on my plate to taste them all, trying to decide what I really liked, and by the time I would figure it out, I would already be full, thus I was always disappointed.