Your faculties of smell and taste benefit you in enjoying your food when you eat. Although, your sense of sight can assist in your eating behavior. A study highlighted in the journal Obesity Research by investigators in  Stockholm, Sweden exhibits how what you see affects your eating behavior.

The research made up of 9 blind and 9 seeing people, where the two parties were given food to eat. The scientists calculated the volume of food ingested by each person, as well as the individuals' feelings of fullness. Later, the eating pattern of the seeing individuals were appraised.  However, on a second assessment, the seeing subjects were blindfolded.

For the most part, the blind subjects had identical eating habits compared with the individuals who were not blind. Anyhow, when the seeing individuals were blindfolded, they ate nearly 22% less food and occupied less time eating compared to when they could lay eyes on their food. The sighted analysis participants provided details of similar impressions of fullness for both meals.

The study scientists concluded that eating while blindfolded may have brought about the subjects to listen to  their internal signs of hunger.

The sensory-specific satiety aspect perhaps is a reason for a cutback of food intake. Sensory-specific satiety refers to  consuming more food when numerous dishes are served with varying nutritional and sensory qualities, as opposed to a situation with only one or a few food components. Sensory-specific satiety can occur in visual appearance, such as shape and color. As an example, subjects consumed pasta by 14% more with 3 different shapes and color, as opposed to pasta with one color and shape throughout the dish.

Perhaps vision contributes to the satiating power of foods. We have some experience of how satisfying familiar foods are and determine how it can delight us by designing our meal plan. Vision may arouse us and afford to satiety awareness that terminate intake.

Gastric distension and release of intestinal peptides are internal determinants which aid in eating cessation. Vision is an extrinsic factor which could also alter receptors in the brain connected to the termination of eating. Insulin release, salivation, and gastric acid secretion is a phenomenon in the cephalic phase of digestion which causes the body to respond to the sight and smell of food. The removal of sight, hence, may alter the cephalic state, which, in turn, can affect the need to stop eating and also the feeling of fullness after the meal ends.

Derived from this investigation, it can be concluded that you can learn to have confidence in your internal hunger signals. In conclusion, this research establishes the value of visual cues to manage intake of foods. Without making the subjects feel less full when dining while blindfolded lessened their food intake.

Manipulation of the visual signals of food may be put to work for more accurate analysis of eating behaviors and may provide new approaches for the treatment of obesity.

Instead of reading or watching television whilst you eat your food, concentrate exclusively on your food. Taste the distinctive qualities of each dish, and be aware of feelings of fullness, breaking off when you are full but not stuffed.

Obesity Research (2002) 10, 92?95; doi: 10.1038/oby.2002.15
Vision and Eating Behavior Yvonne Linn?*, Britta Barkeling*, Stephan R?ssner* and P?l Rooth* *Obesity Unit, Huddinge University Hospital, S-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. Received 25 June 2001; Accepted 7 November 2001.

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