If You Want To Lose Weight, You Should Be Counting THIS Instead of Calories…

Health experts, nutritionists, and fitness trainers have been coming up with a wide variety of diets, regimens, and other methods of losing or maintaining weight for years now. Each of them, however, has had its own set of failings.

Researchers at Clemson University, however, believe that they’re on the way to discovering the most effective way of losing weight: counting the number of bites taken in a meal with a piece of wearable technology.

As it turns out, if people are aware of how many bites they’ve eaten over the course of a meal, they naturally reduce their overall food intake.

Ph.D. student at Clemson University, Philip Jasper, states that this discovery falls in line with previous research that shows “feedback on consumption leads people to consume less.” However, the effect of this feedback doesn’t counteract “the effect of environment cues such as plate size.”

Although people did reduce the number of bites they took when they became aware of how much they had eaten, using a larger plate still caused them to eat more than they would have consumed if they had used a smaller plate.

In another trial, the researchers restricted the number of bites two different test groups could take. One group was limited to taking only 12 bites, the other could take 22.

When this number was limited, the group who could take fewer bites ended up taking larger bites to compensate for the low number. In contrast, the group who could take more bites took smaller bites in comparison to their counterparts.

Jasper concluded that “this compensatory behavior is intentional, a reaction to a perceived limitation.” Researchers determined then, that if this bite-count technology is to eventually be used to help obese patients lose weight, then each patient would have to have a personalized bit count.

This piece of dietary technology is continuing to be developed, but Jasper is hopeful that they will succeed. “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.”

He hopes that eventually, this bite-monitoring technology will help people practice more mindful eating and “self-monitor” their dietary habits to maintain a healthy lifestyle.