How to Avoid Snacking?

Have you noticed that some healthy meals do not always fill you up for long hours as much as you would expect them to? A lot of people who care about their nutrition carefully select food products, keep an eye on the energy value of the diet and the content of macronutrients, and yet they often get tempted and have some unplanned snacks during the day. In this post I would like to talk about the impact of eating high-protein meals on the feeling of fullness, which may be especially important if you want to eat healthy or lose weight but hunger crushes your efforts. It may be enough to tweak the composition of your meals so that you can control your appetite more effectively ? Let’s check it!

 

The first meal. Should you go for porridge or scrambled eggs?

You ask me a lot about what to choose: high-protein breakfast or a meal with higher carbohydrate content. The answer is difficult and, as always, depends on your individual needs. Being an athlete, the time and type of training are important to me. If I’m planning to perform a morning endurance workout, I will definitely be more willing to have porridge. And if I want to exercise in the afternoon and have other duties in the morning, I often choose the high-protein. However, it is worth asking yourself one more question: how will a given type of meal affect the feeling of satiety?

Protein has the highest satiating effect of the 3 macronutrients. How to use this fact in practice? If you know that you’re about to have a long break between meals, it is worth preparing a dish with a higher protein content in the morning so that you feel full for hours. It can also be useful for people who have problems with snacking during the day, as we are always more tempted when hungry.

The results of research by American scientists, who checked how the consumption of high-protein breakfasts influenced the feeling of appetite during the day and the desire to nibble unhealthy snacks in the evening, turned out to be very interesting. During the experiment, 20 young women, who skipped breakfast on a daily basis, were given a meal with high protein content or with a standard amount of protein (the energy value of both meals was the same). The results showed that high-protein breakfasts increased satiety by reducing the activity of the brain centers responsible for the feeling of hunger. In addition, the respondents declared a lower desire to eat unhealthy snacks rich in fat or sugar in the evening (such as the beloved crisps and ready-made sweets…).

 

Not only protein

Although the results from other research studies also confirm that protein helps us stay full longer (especially protein of animal origin), we cannot forget about other important macronutrients: carbohydrates and fats. Each of them performs specific roles in the body and is necessary for its proper functioning. However, you should limit the consumption of products rich in simple sugars, which will cause the blood glucose level to rise fast, but will go down just as quickly and make us hungry, sleepy and tired again. When it comes to fats, it is better to choose plant products: good quality olive oil, oils, avocados, seeds and nuts. Beware of deep-fried products that are processed and do not have any nutritional value for our body.

Remember that the feeling of fullness is not only influenced by the protein content in the meal. Dietary fiber is also very important and you can find mainly in fruit and vegetables, but also in good-quality bread and coarse groats. The higher the fiber content in a meal or its daily intake, the greater the effect on satiety. Individual fiber fractions extend the intestinal passage. What’s more, meals containing a lot of fiber require longer chewing, which means that we eat our meal longer and, as a result, feel full faster. Other important factors determining the feeling of satiety include the degree of fragmentation of the product, its volume, consistency and the method of processing. Liquid meals (smoothies, soups) leave the stomach faster so they do not make you feel as full as solid foods which take longer to digest. You have probably also noticed that it is more difficult for us to eat a large amount of raw vegetables (e.g. in the form of a salad) than, for example, a small bar (even a healthy one). This is not only due to the presence of fiber in vegetables, but also because of the volume of the meal.

 

Summary

As you can see, breakfast with a higher protein content may be an effective strategy to prevent overeating. However, we must remember about dietary fiber, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. If you have trouble controlling your appetite during the day and you can’t resist sweets and salty snacks in the evenings, try to have a high protein meal for breakfast (scrambled eggs, frittata, chicken/fish salad, savory muffins). You can find lots of recipes for delicious breakfast and other meals on my blog HERE ?

 

Bibliography:

1. Leidy HJ, Ortinau LC, Douglas SM, Hoertel HA. Beneficial effects of a higher-protein breakfast on the appetitive, hormonal, and neural signals controlling energy intake regulation in overweight/obese, “breakfast-skipping,” late-adolescent girls. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013; 97(4): 677–688.
2. Skotnicka M, Duraj N. Rola składników odżywczych w regulacji sytości organizmu. Ann. Acad. Med. Gedan. 2015; 45: 79-87.
3. Skotnicka M, Plata A. Ocena wpływu wysokobiałkowych śniadań na poziom głodu krótkoterminowy i długoterminowy. BROMAT. CHEM. TOKSYKOL. – XLIX, 2016; 3: 615 – 619.