"If a person replaced 3 ounces of broiled strip steak [trimmed of fat] with 3 ounces of broiled white fish [prepared without fat] once a day over a year, the calorie savings is approximately 24,000," Gorman says. "A 24,000 calorie deficit over a year can turn into a 6-pound weight loss."
Another problem: Spaces on the plates may be limited, but how high folks pile food into these spaces is often left to their discretion -- which isn't always the better part of dieting.
Portion plates are not the epitome of convenience either. Though they're designed to be easy to use, that doesn't apply at restaurants or friends' houses. The study with diabetes patients was limited to people who mostly ate at home. And still, the authors said, compliance with proper use of the plate was poor.
Accordingly, some variations on the portion-control plate theme have appeared. Last month the Fit & Fresh company of Providence, R.I., launched the Fit & Fresh System, an elaborate line of products -- including a scale, cutting board and containers of numerous sizes, even some with removable ice packs -- that customers can use to prepare and store portion-controlled meals, which they can then bring along with them wherever they please.
Another company, 6-month-old Portionpals, provides a set of small cutting-board discs showing appropriate portions for various types of food, so you can cut your food to fit. "If you want to have a piece of chocolate cake, you're going to have a piece of chocolate cake," says Portionpals' Hamberg. "So just have it in the proper portion."
The fact remains that people don't always stick with their diets, and they might not stick with portion-control plates (or cutting boards or preparation systems) either. In fact, one weakness with the Pedersen study is that it lasted only six months, says Susan McLaughlin of the American Diabetes Assn. "The data for most weight-loss studies is good at six months. People need to continue longer."
But the hope for portion-control plates is that people will get a better idea of what portions are supposed to look like -- and apply that knowledge even when the plate is out of reach or when they've stopped using it altogether. Many clients of EZ Weight Plate, Acosta says, claim to have learned their lessons well -- so well, in fact, they think they can abandon their plates. Acosta thinks this is risky. "We all lose perspective," she says. "A cup of pasta will turn into two or three, after six months. That's why I tell them to check themselves" -- by eating off the plates at least once a month.
Portion-control devices come in different styles and at different prices. (Young of New York University suggests that people can save money by making their own.)
But like anything else, whether the plates are helpful depends on how people use them. "They might learn, 'OK, I've been eating three times as much food as I should be,' " Rolls says. "And when they have that moment -- what do they do with it? That's what matters."
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health@latimes.com
