Even when eating identical breakfasts from the same ingredients, people consumed more calories throughout the day if they believed one portion was less substantial. This finding comes from recent research building on prior studies about expected satiety from liquids like drinks or semi-solids such as smoothies and soups, which influence hunger for up to three hours. Now, the effect extends to solid foods like omelets, lasting up to four hours and impacting total daily calories.
In a study with 26 participants across two visits, everyone ate a three-egg omelet but was told it was either a two-egg or four-egg version. Those who thought they had the smaller omelet felt hungrier after two hours, ate more pasta at lunch, and consumed significantly more calories overall compared to when they believed it was larger.
