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The color of the cutlery you use may make a difference in your diet

Category: General Health

People who are trying to improve their health should consider ordering regular blood tests and lab tests to make sure that they have good cholesterol levels and are free of other signs of disease. They may also want to work on changing their diet, especially if they usually eat foods that are high in fat, salt and cholesterol. Eating healthy foods is not always easy, but there are some diet tricks that people may not be aware of. For example, the type of cutlery people use could make a difference in how they feel about their food.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Oxford found that the type of plates, glasses and utensils people use can make an impact on how they perceive their food. This means that there may be ways to trick the body into thinking food tastes differently or is more filling than it really is.

Engage the senses
Researchers explained that how people view their food is a multi-sensory experience, which is why people can find food appetizing when they simply look at it, before they even have a taste. During the course of their study, the scientists found that when cheese was eaten using a knife, people thought it tasted saltier than if they used other utensils. Furthermore, when white yogurt was eaten from a white spoon people thought it tasted sweeter, was better tasting and more expensive than pink-colored yogurt.

"Subtly changing eating implements and tableware can affect how pleasurable, or filling, food appears. So, when serving a dish, one should keep in mind that the color of the food appears different depending on the background on which it is presented (plate or cutlery) and, therefore, tastes different," said researcher Vanessa Harrar, Ph.D. "This may also be used to help control eating patterns such as portion size or how much salt is added to food."

This is not the first time that the color of cutlery has been shown to impact a person's appetite. For example, researchers from Cornell University found that if people ate pasta with red sauce on a red plate, then they would consume more than if they ate off a white plate. Similarly, individuals who consumed pasta with Alfredo sauce on a white plate ate more than if they had some off a darker plate. This suggests that when it comes to dieting, people may want to pay close attention to the color of their plate.