Thinking you had a small breakfast makes you eat more

You are what you think you eat, new research reveals.

Believing you had a small breakfast makes people feel significantly hungrier just two hours later, a study found.

They also consume more food at lunch and take in more calories throughout the day, the research adds.

The memory of a small meal, as opposed to producing higher amounts of ‘hunger hormones’, is behind the results, according to the researchers.

Lead author Dr Steven Brown from Sheffield Hallam University, said: ‘We were able to measure participants’ consumption throughout the rest of the day and found that total intake was lower when participants believed that they had eaten a larger breakfast.’

Believing you had a small breakfast makes people feel significantly hungrier two hours later

WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? EAT OFF A RED PLATE

Eating less may be as simple as changing the colour of your plates, an expert said back in April.

Red plates are thought to trigger a danger signal that reduces the amount we eat.

While white plates make food taste sweeter, allowing you to enjoy your dessert just as much but with less sugar.

Back in 2011 researchers from the University of Valencia asked 51 participants to eat the same strawberry mousse off a white and black plate, alternating the order of which plate was used first.

The results revealed that eating the mousse off a white plate made it taste seven per cent sweeter, 13 per cent more flavourful and nine per cent more enjoyable than the black plate.

Dr Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford, told MailOnline: ‘White plates generally have a contrasting colour to the food, so people are better able to judge the colour of the food itself rather than being influenced by the background.’

How the research was carried out

The researchers analysed 26 adults.

Over two visits, the study’s participants were told they were eating either a two-egg or four-egg omelette.

All of the omelettes actually contained three eggs.

Blood samples were taken from the participants to determine their levels of the ‘hunger hormone’ ghrelin.

Thinking you eat less makes you hungrier

Results reveal that when people believe they are eating less they report being significantly hungrier two hours later.

They also consume significantly more food at lunch, as well as taking in more calories throughout the day.

The findings were presented at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Health Psychology conference in Cardiff.

Food expectations influence hunger and calorie intake

Dr Brown said: ‘Previous studies have shown that a person’s expectations can have an impact on their subsequent feelings of hunger and fullness and, to a degree, their later calorie consumption.

‘Our work builds on this with the introduction of solid food and measured people’s subsequent consumption four hours later, a period of time more indicative of the gap between breakfast and lunch.

‘We were also able to measure participants’ consumption throughout the rest of the day and found that total intake was lower when participants believed that they had eaten a larger breakfast.

‘Having analysed levels of ghrelin, our data also suggest that changes in reported hunger and the differences in later consumption are not due to a differences in participants’ physical response to the food.

‘Therefore, memory for prior consumption, as opposed to physiological factors, may be a better target for investigating why expectations for a meal have an effect on subsequent feelings of hunger and calorie intake.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk