07 Aug 2012: A team of scientists led by one of Indian origin have suggested that cutting food into smaller pieces can help dieters shed those extra kilos.
Researchers found that both humans and animals judge the amount of food they are eating by the number of pieces in front of them.
A serving cut into several pieces will appear more filling even if contains the same number of calories.
During the research, the scientists observed that when rats were trained to associate one part of a maze with a 300mg pellet of food and another with four 75mg pellets, they preferred the latter area.
Even college students who were given a bagel cut into quarters and then fed lunch 20 minutes later ate less than those given an uncut bagel.
"Cutting up energy-dense foods into smaller pieces may be beneficial to dieters who wish to make their meal more satiating," the Daily Express quoted Devina Wadhera, lead researcher at Arizona State University, as saying.