Wellness Wednesday

The Smaller Plate Illusion Doesn't Always Equal Eating Less

The popular diet trick of putting your food on a smaller plate to make you feel like you're eating more doesn't always work, especially if you're hungry.

     There is a popular optical illusion called the Delbouef Illusion, where a black dot is pictured in a large circle and a small circle, the black dot is the same size, but looks much larger on the smaller circle. People have decided to incorporate this illusion in their eating habits, saying that putting proper portions on a smaller plate can trick your brain into thinking you have more food in front of you than you really do. They believe this will help them eat less, but a study says it won't make a difference if you're really hungry.

     Researchers set out to find if plate size really makes as much of a difference as we think it does in eating less food per meal. They found plate size doesn't trick the brain into thinking there is more food than there is especially when the person is really hungry. The study showed people who haven't eaten in over three hours were able to accurately identify portions regardless of how much space is left on the plate more than those who had eaten recently. They also found this was only the case in relation to food, people still inaccurately guessed which dot was bigger at the same rate. They believe this proves that depending on your body's needs you will know if the amount of food in front of you is enough or not. While we may not be able to trick our brains into eating less, making healthier choices such as incorporating "good fats" and being properly hydrated can help us feel full longer and thus eat less throughout the day.