Why portion sizes

To overcome portion distortion and downsize your helpings, try the following:. Need serious help making a plan? The nutrition experts in our professional membership are ready to help you create the change to improve your life. Find a Nutrition Expert. Portion Size. Return to listing. This Food Fact Sheet will share the suggested portion sizes of typical foods. What is a portion of food? Why are portion sizes important? Carbohydrates — what is a portion? Type of food Portion Size What does this look like?

Food portion sizes. London: Stationery Office; Information type: Food fact. While not all foods match visual cues, this method can help you become better at gauging serving sizes and practicing portion control. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Evidence suggests that people tend to eat more out of large packages than small ones — regardless of food taste or quality 16 , In another study, participants consumed over fewer grams of snacks per week when given gram snack packs than when given snacks in standard-sized packages Rather than eating snacks from the original packaging, empty them into a small bowl to prevent eating more than you need.

The same applies to bulk portions of family meals. Rather than serving food directly from the stove, re-portion it onto plates before serving. Doing so will help prevent overfilling your plate and discourage returning for seconds. Summary Eating food from larger packages or containers encourages increased intake.

Try re-portioning snacks into individual portions and serving family meals from plates to prevent overeating. However, it may help to invest in a scale or measuring cup to weigh food and correctly assess your intake Reading food labels also increases awareness of proper portions.

However, doing so may be helpful for a short period to develop awareness of what an appropriate portion size looks like. After a while, you may not need to measure everything. Summary Using measuring equipment can help increase awareness of portion sizes and correctly assess how much food is normally eaten.

Research suggests that people are often surprised at how much food they eat 3 , In weight-loss studies, those who kept a food diary tended to lose more weight overall This likely occurred because they became more aware of what they ate — including their unhealthy choices — and adjusted their diet accordingly. Summary Jotting down your total calorie intake can increase awareness of what you consume. This can motivate you to make healthier choices and reduce your chances of overeating. Unwanted weight gain may start with large portion sizes.

However, there are many practical steps you can take to control portions. These simple changes have proven successful in reducing portions without compromising on taste or feelings of fullness.

For example, measuring your food, using smaller dishes, drinking water prior to meals and eating slowly can all reduce your risk of overeating.