Cutting up chocolate helps to shed weight chop-chop

Tricking yourself when it comes to portion size is one of the keys to weight loss, say researchers

BREAKING a bar of chocolate into squares may help you lose weight, scientists have found.

The same can apply to other foods, experts believe, with controlling portion size a key aspect of weight control, alongside exercise and a balanced diet.

Researchers at Shaanxi Normal University in China studied whether turning food into more, smaller chunks affected perception of portion size, and if spreading it out made a difference.

A total of 63 people took part in two experiments where they looked at 60 different pictures of chocolate arranged in various ways.

“Unit number and inter-unit distance independently influenced the perception of overall portion size,” the scientists write in their study, published in the journal Food Quality and Preference.

The team showed the participants a block of chocolate, with 10 different sizes, and it was then either cut into nine or 16 pieces and either not spread out, or there was 10, 20 and 30 per cent extra space between the squares.

Fei Wu, a study author, said: “The key to helping lose weight is to increase the perceived portion size.

“Although real food was not used in the experiments, we can speculate that people who want to lose weight can arrange their food on a plate in a slightly scattered way and leave some space between each item. This will make the food look like more.

“Conversely, if the same amount of food is gathered together, it will look like less, which may make you feel like you can eat more.

“In addition, the food can be divided into more units, which makes the overall portion size look like more.”

Mr Wu came up with the idea for the study when noting the different stacking techniques his friends used at a buffet. “It operated on a weigh-and-pay system, where food was selected, weighed, and charged accordingly,” Mr Wu said.

“As my research topic was related to portion size, I suggested that we estimate each other’s food portion size.

“During this process, I noticed that one friend’s plate had loosely arranged food with gaps in between, forming a large circle that caused everyone to overestimate the price of the food.

“In contrast, another friend’s plate had tightly stacked food forming a small circle, resulting in the food being undervalued.”

Previous studies have shown that perceived portion size is worth studying because it can mediate consumption. If a person can perceive food as being bigger than it is, then they may judge food as too large and reduce their consumption.

Mr Wu added: “When perceiving overall portion size, both unit number and inter-unit distance influenced overall portion size estimation.”