1. Portion size: Visual aspects of a meal, such as portion size, have been shown to influence how much we eat. In an American study on satiety, participants were seated at a table and instructed to eat soup. Half of the bowls were slowly and imperceptibly refilled, via a tube beneath the table, as their contents were consumed. The participants whose bowls were covertly refilled consumed 73 percent more soup than those who refilled the bowls themselves, but they didn't believe they had consumed more, nor did they feel more full than those eating from normal bowls. It's unlikely that someone is secretly refilling your bowl under the table, but it's important to be aware that you are likely to eat however much food is on your plate..
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2. Variety: Usually, when eating, we get used to the taste of the food, which means we get less pleasure from it and so stop eating. This effect is called 'sensory-specific satiety'. It essentially means we get full for that specific taste. However, when we eat a varied plate of food, switching between the foods continues to renew their palatability. When researchers tested this effect, they found people ate four times as much when given multiple different foods..
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