A small change in the order of the dishes can transform our way of eating. Nothing to delete, nothing to ban, just a simple tip, validated by science, to calm the appetite and avoid extra pounds.
When you try to lose weight, you often focus on what you have to remove: less sugar, less bread, less fat. We measure, we weigh, we count. But if the solution was precisely to add something? Not to deceive hunger, but to prepare the body and the head to receive the meal differently. This is shown by a team of Japanese researchers in a study published in 2020 in Scientific Reports. They observed a very concrete phenomenon: when you start a meal with this famous food, you eat less from the main dish, without realizing it, or being hungry later.
To test the effect of this food, researchers from the University of Osaka recruited around thirty healthy volunteers. Each participant was invited to have a classic lunch, based on rice, vegetables and protein. The only difference was what was served just before the main dish. In a first scenario, the participants ate their plate without taking anything upstream. In the second, they drank a 40 ml portion of this particular liquid, prepared without added salt, oil or transformed food. Result: their rice consumption decreased significantly, without them feeling less full. And this is not an isolated trend. Other studies on the subject come to the same conclusions. This hot liquid, poor in calories, acts like a soft barrier to overconsumption. It slows down the pace of the meal, changes the hunger signals sent to the brain and allows you to feel stalled faster.
What to eat, therefore, is vegetable broth. A real, homemade or brick, provided that it is without salt or added fat. No croutons, no cheese, no vermicelli. Just vegetables infused in hot water, filtered or not. This is what researchers used for their protocol: carrots, onions, turnips, celery and leeks, all mixed with water, then filtered to obtain a fluid and light texture. This broth plays several roles. It occupies the place in the stomach, which mechanically reduces the space available for the future. And it gently warms the organism, which promotes the feeling of satiety.
Thus, the rhythm changes, the perception of the dish too. Fewer portions, less cravings, less frustration. And unlike certain appetite suppressants, it does not tire the intestine, does not accelerate transit, does not create a rebound effect. He just installs a new slimming habit.
