New wearable technology that counts the number of bites a dieter takes during a meal could help people shed pounds, a new study has revealed
Fad diets, Fitbits and fitness regimes – all have been tried, tested and many found failing in the quest for a truly effective treatment for weight loss.
Now, a new form of wearable technology could offer hope, scientists said today.
One way to tackle the spiralling obesity epidemic, they say, is to count bites not calories.
Researchers wanted to examine how providing dieters with a bite count after each meal might influence how much they ate.
Their findings reveal people made aware of the number of bites they made during each meal ate less, and reduced their overall intake.
Phillip Jasper, a PhD student at Clemson University, South Carolina, said: ‘It was found that the presence of bite count feedback led to a reduction in overall consumption.
‘This finding is consistent with current literature that shows feedback on consumption leads people to consume less.
‘It was found that this type of feedback does not eliminate the effect of environment cues such as plate size.
‘Individuals may eat less when they receive bite count feedback, but feedback alone may not be sufficient in terms of helping them to take an “appropriate” or “normal” number of bites, particularly in the presence of large plates.’
Researchers recruited young adults to consume a meal in the lab.
In the first round, some participants were kitted out with bite count monitors and given either a small or large plate.
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The group that received the bite count feedback significantly reduced their intake regardless of plate size, although those given large plates still consumed more than those given smaller plates.
Larger plate sizes have been positively linked to over-consumption.
While providing bite count feedback helped mitigate the influence of plate size, it was not enough to overcome it completely.
During a second round, study volunteers were given either a low-bite goal of 12 bites, or a high-bite goal of 22 bites for their meal.
Interestingly, both groups met their goal, but the low-bite group took bigger bites, which resulted in both groups having comparable levels of consumption.
This finding revealed a complex relationship between bite count goals and energy intake.
Mr Jasper said: ‘It is possible that this compensatory behavior is intentional, a reaction to a perceived limitation such that participants believed 12 bites to be too restricting of a goal.
‘In other words, in an effort to reach satiety while not surpassing the given goal, participants felt as though they needed to take larger bites than they typically would.’
Researchers said in order to combat this potential issue – of people taking bigger bites – it would be necessary to create personalized bite count targets for each obese patient.
Mr Jasper said: ‘It is possible to reduce the number of bites and in an appropriate way so that individuals don’t even know they’re reducing their bites and their caloric intake.
The group that received the bite count feedback significantly reduced their intake regardless of plate size, although those given large plates still consumed more than those given smaller plates
‘Over the timespan of an effective diet, that delta in energy intake really has a strong impact on overall weight gain and weight change.’
He went on to add that counting bites is an excellent weapon against the so-called ‘mindless margin’, or those people who eat without thinking about it.
By providing live insight into the number of bites, people will be more likely to stop eating when appropriately full and be more aware of what they’re eating.
Mr Jasper said: ‘We want people to be mindful of what they’re doing. That’s what’s really important.
‘We want them to be mindful of their eating, and bite count feedback is a way to keep people mindful of their eating behaviors.’
New approaches such as providing bite count feedback can help people concerned with overweight and obesity eat less by providing them with external indicators of their energy intake.
Knowing the number of bites is much less abstract than knowing the number of calories.
‘Self-monitoring is one of the cornerstones of successful weight loss,’ concluded Mr. Jasper.
‘By giving people bite count feedback, which is a good indicator for energy intake, they know how much they’ve had to eat or drink, they know their intake so they can better adjust their energy expenditure behaviors.’
The results are published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.