More Mealtime Confusion: Size, Configuration, and Color DO Matter--Study

From Georgia Tech. This is a PDF link directly to the study itself. The study looked at caloric intake, serving size, visual bias, and the Delbeoulf Illusion in relation to over-serving and over-eating.

In short, it says that not only do you have to take serving size into account, but also plate size, plate configuration/decoration (does it have an inner rim or ringed circular design on the rim?), and plate color, as well as the color. size, and shape of surrounding dishes and the background tablecloth--a food dish served on a contrasting plate set on another contrasting tablecloth reduces the visual bias and distortion that makes one apt to over-serve and over-eat.

So (exaggeratedly) it would appear that we need to prepare and serve colorful foods on smaller plain white unrimmed plates, set upon a Jimmy Hendricks-style psychedelic tablecloth (or something damned near similar). The tablecloth alone would make people lose their appetite...and maybe this is the TRUE key to overeating! :)

Taken to the Italian restaurant extreme, if they quit serving on village-sized plates and bowls with rims, and quit using those red-and-white checkered tablecloths, as well as bland beige pasta, we might see some progress on the Olive Garden front. But alas--selling food is their business, and selling the cheapest cost-per-pound food in large portions to fill you up (then overcharge the hell out of you), yet bring you back for more because you're being led back to the sugar source, is what they do best.

A pound box of pasta is what...say $2.00 in today's economy? Have you ever COOKED an entire box of pasta? It triples in size when cooked, so a cooked 1-lb. $2.00 package will feed a football team, but you get charged $10 for the privilege of someone else cooking ONE SERVING of it (worth about .25), putting some sort of sauce on it, then bringing it to you--you'd have to eat 8 servings of this to get your money's worth out of just one dish!

Ah, but it's pasta, which is filling, and the chances of you wanting 8 servings is slim to none, unless maybe you haven't eaten all day. A typical soup/salad/bread sticks combo costs about maybe $2.00/person to make and serve, but you get a bill for what...$10 for food, plus the hospital bill years later, plus possible future diabetic costs, and possibly some large weight gain...all because the tablecloth, the rimmed oversize plate, and the food were very similar in color, and the nutritional quality of the food was lacking. Oh, let's not forget the lure of the words "endless" (code for All You Can Eat) and the one seemingly-low price.

Ever notice those "All You Can Eat" restaurants all serve the same cheap crap foods?

Meanwhile on the home front, we can just use smaller plates, eat more colorful and nutritious food, and MEASURE our portions before putting them on the plate. I go one better: I measure portions before I freeze them (meats, veggies, fruits), since I make a lot of my own frozen foods. I also measure portions before I zippy-bag them (for non-perishable stuff, like nuts). All I do is thaw and cook--the only real measuring I do is in baking.