'Mindless eating' and strategies to beat it

Simple changes like relocating food in the fridge can help dieters, a psychologist says.

Consumer psychologist Brian Wansink studies how changing food cues in our environment can help avoid "mindless eating."

At the American Psychological Association's convention in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Wansink presented tips based on his research of eating behaviour at the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab.

"Most of us have too much chaos going on in our lives to consciously focus on every bite we eat, and then ask ourselves if we're full. The secret is to change your environment so it works for you rather than against you," he said in a release.

One of Wansink's studies showed that people lost up to two pounds a month after making several simple changes in their environment, including:

• Eating off salad plates instead of large dinner plates.
• Keeping unhealthy foods out of immediate line of sight and moving healthier foods to eye-level in the cupboard and refrigerator.
• Eating in the kitchen or dining room, not in front of the television.

Wansink's previous studies  found that people pour 37 per cent more liquid into short, wide tumblers than tall, thin glasses.

Bottomless bowl experiments

In another experiment, participants served themselves snacks from either large serving bowls in one room or smaller serving bowls in another room at a Super Bowl party. The bowls were surreptitiously weighed, and it was found that those who served themselves from large bowls took portions that contained 53 per cent more calories.

Similarly, a test in which 60 people were served soup in 650 millilitre bowls, half of which were secretly refilled from below as diners were eating, showed that those with the "bottomless bowls" ate 73 per cent more than those eating from a normal bowl.

Despite consuming significantly more soup and calories, the group with the bottomless bowls did not feel any more full than the group with the normal bowls.

"The lesson is, don't rely on your stomach to tell you when you're full. It can lie," Wansink said.