Counting the amount of calories you consume is out. Counting the amount of bites you take while eating is in.
BYU health science researchers uncovered that individuals who count their bites they take while eating experience greater weight loss compared to those who don’t. In fact, their study revealed that those who count their bites lose an average of four pounds each month.
"This study confirms what we already knew: Consuming less food makes a difference," said lead author Josh West in a statement. "We're not advocating people starve themselves, what we're talking about is people eating less than they're currently eating."
Researchers explained that those who are overweight should be concerned with quantitative aspects of food and less on qualitative aspects.
Their experiment asked 61 participants to count the number of times they lifted food to their mouth and the number of gulps of liquids, other than water, each day.
At the end of each day, the subjects texted or emailed their totals to researchers.
The 41 test subjects who finished the experiment produced encouraging results, Dr Crookston said, but there is more research needed to validate this strategy for long-term success.
"We felt pretty good about how much weight they lost given the relatively short span of the study," he said.
The participants who did not complete the study reported that it was due to difficulty with counting bites, but researchers have since developed an algorithm to do the counting for people. The technology is being transferred to an app to help people count their bites easily and efficiently.
A similar study conducted at the Department of Kinesiology at Texas Christian University found that people who eat at a slower pace are better able to control their energy intake and are satisfied with their meal for longer.
Overweight and obese people participating in the study were able to reduce their caloric intake from fast-paced eating to slow-paced eating by 58 kcal.
"We're consuming considerably more calories than we did a generation ago or two generations ago; at the same time we're much less active," Crookston said. "The good news is that you don't have to be extreme calorie cutting. Even a 20 percent reduction in bites makes a difference."
The researchers believe bite counting is a cost-effective, doable method to lose weight considering that 70 percent of the American population is overweight.
The findings were published in Advances of Obesity, Weight Management and Control.
