大號餐具是減肥的祕密武器?
正在進行減肥計劃而要控制每頓攝入食物的人們現在又有了一種“非典型”的祕密武器——大號餐叉。
Diners who use them eat less than those with smaller forks, according to a study.
根據一樣調查顯示，使用大號餐叉的人要比使用使用小號餐叉的人每頓少吃掉一些食物。
While previous research examined portion sizes and their effect on how much is eaten, researchers at the University of Utah in the U.S. assessed the impact of bite sizes.
在這之前，曾有一項調查研究了每口食物的體積大小以及這位與進食者所吃掉食物多少的影響，美國猶他大學的研究者們研究者發現了每口食物大小所產生的不同作用。
The two-day experiment was conducted in an Italian restaurant. Tables were set with either a bigger fork or a smaller one – holding 20 per cent more and 20 per cent less food than the restaurant’s regular size.
研究者們在一家意大利餐館進行了爲期兩天的實驗，餐桌上放置着兩組餐具，一套中叉子較大，另一套中則偏小，叉子的大小直接決定了使用其“叉”起食物的量，大號的叉子比一般餐叉能多拾起百分之二十的食物，而小號的則要少百分之二十。
Each plate of food was weighed before it went out to a customer and when it came back to calculate how much food was left over. Diners given bigger forks ate less, leaving more on their plates.
每個盤子的食物在正式端上桌之前都被稱了重量，在客人用餐完畢後，盤子被端了回來，研究者們又稱取了剩下食物的重量。他們發現，使用大號叉子的顧客吃得要更少下，剩在盤子裏的食物也要更多一些。
The authors of the study found that fork size helped diners see how far along they were toward finishing.
這篇研究報告的作者們發現，叉子的大小可以幫助吃飯的人估量他們現在已經吃了多少，距離吃完還有什麼樣一個距離。With smaller forks, they did not feel much progress was being made so they put greater effort into satisfying their hunger – by eating more.
使用小叉子的話，人們並不會很明顯的發現已經吃掉了多少食物，他們會更加努力地來滿足自己的飢餓感，那就是吃得更多。
Co-author Arul Mishra said: 'We observed that diners visit the restaurant with a well-defined goal of satiating their hunger and because of this they are willing to invest effort and resources to satiate their hunger goal.'
報告的合著者之一Arul Mishra：“我們發現，光顧餐廳的顧客們都想一飽口福並且填飽肚子，也因爲如此，他們對應用這種的方法和資源來讓自己吃飽。”
They said that traditionally diners satisfy their hunger by choosing, eating, and paying for their food - all of which involve effort.
他們表示，食客們會通過點餐、進食和埋單這樣的過程來滿足自己對於食物的慾望，而這一過程中的每一步都是需要注入精力的。
Mr Mishra said: 'The fork size provided diners with a means to observe their goal progress. The physiological feedback of feeling full or the satiation signal comes with a time lag.
Mishra先生或：“叉子的大小被證實是可以幫助進食者測量已經完成目的進展的一個工具。生理上的對於食物的飽腹感或滿足感都是以時間作爲參照的。”
'In its absence diners focus on the visual cue of whether they are making any dent on the food on their plate to assess goal progress.'
“進食者將注意力放在了能夠直觀看到的盤子裏已經吃掉了的食物的暗示，這是他們估計滿足飢餓進展的線索。”
The study, reported in the Journal of Consumer Research, concludes: ‘Grandma’s advice tells us to chew well so that our body has enough time to let us know that we are full.
這項刊登於《消費者研究期刊》的文章總結道：“祖母的建議是正確的，要要細嚼慢嚥，這樣身體纔有足夠的時間向我們做出反饋是否已經吃飽了。”
‘But given people’s busy lives, if we are not chewing longer, then using a larger fork may actually be more helpful in controlling over-consumption.’
“不過在現代人如此繁忙快節奏的生活方式中，不過我們沒有時間來細嚼慢嚥，那麼使用一個大號的餐叉可以有效的幫助我們控制暴飲暴食。”
