Cut food consumption by 20% with small plates

The old saying goes “you are what you eat”.  It may be that you are what kind of plate you eat from, too.

Like everything else today, dinner plates have gotten bigger- lots bigger. And here’s the thing- we’re loading up today’s bigger plates, too. That’s because larger plates make a serving of food appear smaller. But here’s some good news: the reverse is true as well. Smaller plates make a serving look larger. Studies have shown that if you switch from eating off a 12-ounce super-sized plate to a more modest 10-ounce plate, you’ll wind up eating about 20% less food. It’s that easy.

We can take advantage of this visual “trick” by choosing different plates to serve various foods. Healthy foods such as Dole Salads Blends, fresh fruits and vegetables should be served on larger plates to encourage eating more of them, while desserts and less healthy snacks should be served from smaller plates to trick our sweet tooth into feeling satisfied with less. So load up a big plate of your favorite healthy foods! For more Dole salad recipes and healthy eating tips, visit Dole.com/salads