Colour me smaller

January 20, 2012

Plate it up! And play with colour if you’re looking to whittle down your portion sizes.

The size of your plate plays a role, but I’d heard that before as you probably have, too (use a smaller plate and you’ll serve yourself less as it’ll appear larger on your plate). Use larger plates and you may serve yourself anywhere from 9 to 13 percent more food.

But the plate colour influences your portion size, too, it turns out, according to a new study from the Journal of Consumer Research. Use a different colour of plate (we’re talking a high contrast of colours), say, for example, spaghetti and meatballs with red sauce on a white plate, and your portion size may be as much as 21 percent smaller.

(Reason enough for me to get these plates I’ve been coveting at the AGO, dontcha think? Plus, it’ll encourage me to eat fewer non-white foods, more bright veggies and the like. That’s the ticket, I NEED these plates because they’ll help me eat better…).

(Taste Collection plate, shopAGO)

Filed under: Diet,Healthy Swellness

Tags: AGO, Art Gallery of Ontario, Diet, plate, plate size, portion control, portion size, weight loss