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BOB HIRSHON (host):
The rewards of nibbling. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.
College students given food in bite-sized portions fill up faster and are less hungry later than students given the same amount of food in one big piece. Researchers at Arizona State University gave students either a whole bagel, or one cut up into small pieces. Later, the students got a full meal and were told to eat as much as they wanted. Those who had been given the cut-up bagel ate less of the meal. Even though they got no more calories than the other group, apparently the bite sized pieces satsified them more, leading them to eat less.
In other news, scientists in Europe have found that being sleep-deprived increases levels of hunger-inducing hormones in the blood stream, while lowering the amount of calories you burn. Taking in more calories and burning fewer is, of course, a recipe for weight gain. I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.
