Lose weight by using the right tableware: study

Losing weight and eating right could be as simple as switching up your tableware and redecorating your dinner table.

At least, those are the findings of a new US study which suggested that when participants chose smaller plates in contrasting colors, they reduced their portion size between 9 to 31 percent.

Published in the Journal of Consumer Research and released Wednesday, the study points out that the average size of dinner plates has increased by almost 23 percent since 1900.

For one of their experiments, researchers asked 225 students to pour a specific amount of tomato soup into one of seven different bowls: one control bowl, three smaller bowls and three larger bowls.

As predicted, participants served less than the target serving in the smaller bowls and served more than the target serving in the larger dishes.

In a follow-up experiment at two summer camps, those who used larger bowls were also observed to over-serve themselves by up to 31 percent more than normal.

Meanwhile, researchers point out that eating just 50 more calories a day could result in a five-pound weight gain each year. 

Another way to prevent overly generous portions sizes is to color-coordinate food and tableware.

That is, instead of using a plate that matches the food color, researchers suggest using a contrasting color to serve as a visual gauge of their meal.

For example, when participants ate their red, tomato-based pasta off a white plate or a white-sauce pasta on a red plate, they reduced the amount they served themselves by 21 percent.

Changing the the color of the tablecloth reduced how much they served themselves by 10 percent.

"In the midst of hard-wired perceptual biases, a straightforward action would be to simply eliminate large dinnerware –– replace our larger bowls and plates with smaller ones or contrast ones," the authors conclude.

In the US, the Small Plate Movement also advises Americans to eat their largest meal off 10” plates once a month. The movement was launched by Cornell University, where the study was also conducted.

Another study published in the same journal found that people who use bigger forks tend to eat less.