5 ways to eat healthier without counting calories
How do you choose what to eat? Is it the aroma wafting from the kitchen that tempts you or the sight of decadent frosting on a springy cake? We tend to rely only on one or two senses, like taste and sight, when picking and eating food… but if we engage all five of our senses when deciding what to put on our plates it might just be the secret to making healthier food choices.
Sight
It’s probably not much of a surprise to hear that sight is perhaps the most important sense we use when we choose certain foods over others – just scrolling past a mouth-watering recipe on Facebook (we’re sorry) can make you hungrier. Presentation matters. The more appealing it looks, the more likely you’re going to eat it and enjoy it. So make an effort to present your healthy meals in a creative, fun and interesting way – you will satisfy both your sense of sight and your tummy.
Touch
A 2013 study in the journal Flavour experimented with how touch influences our food taste. In one experiment, they found people rated yoghurt denser and tastier when it was served in a heavy bowl rather than a lighter one. Co-author of the study Charles Spence said the tactile experience leads us to focus more intently on what we're eating and consequently we’re more aware when we’re truly full.
Hearing
One of the biggest eating mistakes is having your meal in front of the tele. When you’re engrossed with the sights and sounds on a screen, you tend not to focus on what you’re eating and before you know it, the whole plate is clean! Concentrate on eating during mealtimes and you’ll be less likely to overindulge.
Smell
Our nose tells us if a meal smells good but that tends to be the end of it. Deeply inhaling the aromatic scents of food can help you feel more satisfied with food even though you’re eating less. In a 2012 study, participants ate vanilla custard in a lab while researchers released a cream aroma at different levels of intensity. During the strongest aroma, the participants took smaller bites and consumer 10 per cent less of the treat. Study co-author René de Wijk, PhD, explained: “We tend to regulate intensely pungent sensations by reducing our intake. As a result, we can eat less but still feel satisfied."
Taste
Give any dish a generous sprinkling of salt will amp up the flavour but we know by now that it isn’t the best seasoning for our bodies. To get the same deliciousness from your dishes, chefs recommend adding umami. A review in Nutrition and Health found that adding umami-rich foods (such as parmesan, shiitake mushrooms and tomatoes) to your meals instead of high-fat extras and salt can reduce fat content by up to 30 per cent and sodium by 40 per cent – and no, the taste wasn’t comprised.
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