Nourish the brain and eat less

It doesn't have to be that hard to eat less and healthier. With 10 simple tips, you can trick your brain and senses so you hardly notice the difference in portion size.

10 simple tips to make you eat less

You use all your senses when you eat, and with the help of small tricks you can manipulate them to eat less and healthier without feeling like you are causing anything. We have asked a renowned expert on the new science of neurogastronomy and been given 10 tips on how to deceive the senses.

10 simple tips

1. Select the correct dish

You may not have thought so carefully about how the appearance of the plate affects how you do. But the fact is that it may pay off to eat off a smaller plate than you usually do. A serving of food on a small plate will look bigger, and it lures the brain to believe that there is more food on the plate than it really is. That way you less than you would otherwise. If you really want to put in the punch, you can serve the food on a red plate. Studies have shown that we eat less if the dish is served on a red background. This is because the brain automatically has an aversion to the red color. The plate color also has significance in another area. If you serve food on round, white plates, you will perceive the food as 10 percent sweeter than if the same dish is served on a square, black plate. It allows you to do.

2. Avoid loud music and background noise

Avoid eating in restaurants or places where there is a lot of background noise. Many restaurants play music over 100 dB, and such a noise level will actually reduce the ability to taste salty and sweet.

In return, listening to slow music while eating is good. The slower the music, the more time you spend lifting the fork or glass to your mouth. That way you eat less, because it is easier to feel when you are saturated if you eat slowly. 

3. Solid food is best

The easier it is to get food or drink, the more we eat or drink it. You use your mouth's sensory as an indicator of how much you have eaten and when to stop. That is why you gain far more calories when you drink apple juice than when you eat e.g. applesauce. Obviously fewer calories are consumed by eating an apple. 

You consume less if you eat the apple, rather than drinking it in a juice.  © iStock

4. Taste the food properly

Try to notice every little taste impression from spices and ingredients that hit the taste buds. By paying more attention to what you eat, you will probably eat less and get more out of your taste and composition. Think of it as so-called mindful eating. 

5. Turn off the TV

Surveys show that we get around 33 percent more if we watch TV while we eat. We are so engrossed by the television program that we think far less about how much we really put in our mouths. 

6. Remove temptations 

Do not have food standing in front. Transparent plastic containers, glass jars and cabinets with a transparent door are more difficult to resist than if you hide food well away in cabinets, drawers and containers you cannot see through. Then the urge to eat is not stimulated by visible temptations every time you are in the kitchen.   

7. Hold the bowl in your hand

Instead of putting the plate or dish on the table, hold it in your hand as you eat. Choose a heavy dish or dish, because the weight will convince the brain that you are fed up with eating what is in it.

8. Eat with sticks

If you are not used to eating with sticks or rarely do it, it's time to learn it. This is because there is every reason to put the fork away: It is probably more difficult to get the food, and it means that you eat smaller portions. You will also eat slower, and it is far healthier than pulling into rocket speed. If you feel it is too demanding to eat with sticks, try to make it harder for yourself by holding the fork in the "wrong" hand when eating. The more cumbersome it is to get the food into your mouth, the better! 

9. Small is good

Try serving soup from a smaller saucepan with a smaller spoon, and eat the dish with less spoons than you usually do. You will feel that you are eating more than you really do. 

10. Blue makes you feel less

The color blue can reduce the food intake. During the Depression in the poor 30s, restaurant owners found that they could save money by serving the food of blue barrels - it made the guests feel less satisfied.