To come to their conclusion that more pieces can lead to eating less, researchers from Arizona State University started with rats. They presented the rodents with two food options: a single 300 mg food pellet or ten 30 mg pellets. Sure enough, the animals went for the meal that gave them more pieces, even though the amount of food was the same. More from Prevention.com: 16 Simple Ways To Eat Less And the same held true for two-legged test subjects. ASU researchers gave college students the option of a whole bagel or one cut into four segments, and then later let them eat as much of a free lunch as they wanted. Students with the quartered bagel ate less of the bagel and less of the lunch. What gives? “It’s about covering a lot of the plate and creating the illusion that you’re eating a lot,” says lead study author Devina Wadhera, a graduate student at ASU. Since we use numbers to gauge quantity, meals in pieces appear larger and more rewarding, even if there’s no difference in calorie count. So should you start chopping up everything you eat, from a granola bar to a banana? Not necessarily, but it’s a good idea to break up that giant hunk of steak. “The technique would work with meats perfectly,” says Wadhera, citing a follow-up study that showed similar results with chicken. She recommends cutting up foods like omelets and sandwiches, and to cut before you eat so you have the illusion of a bigger serving in front of you. Bottom line: It can’t hurt to turn one big brownie into 10 bite-size pieces. Who knows, maybe you won’t even want that ninth bite. (Get more sneaky way to feel fuller with less with 4 Simple Tricks To Eat Less.)
