How Counting Your Bites Helps You Eat Less

Counting your bites of food could help you lose weight, a small study suggests.

Researchers asked 61 volunteers to tally the number of bites they took each day and pledge to take 20 percent to 30 percent fewer bites over the next four weeks. They also tracked their intake of liquids other than water.

The 41 participants who kept their vow lost about four pounds during that month — about what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for healthy weight loss.

The Brigham Young University study was published recently in the journal Advances in Obesity, Weight Management & Control.

“This study confirms what we already knew: Consuming less food makes a difference,” lead author Josh West, an assistant professor of health science, said in a university news release. “We’re not advocating people starve themselves, what we’re talking about is people eating less than they’re currently eating.”

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