Satiety could be the secret to weight loss you’ve been looking for. While ‘secret’ and ‘weight loss’ are two terms you typically don’t want to see in the same sentence – as it often means a fake or fad diet, satiety comes down to a science. It is the feeling of fullness you experience after a meal and can make all of the difference in your weight loss journey.
Contents
What is Satiety?
Satiety is the physiological state you experience at the end of a meal and in between meals when you feel full and no longer feel hungry. It lasts from the time you eat a meal and feel satisfied until your body starts to feel hungry again. Some meals offer more satiety than others.
To understand satiety fully, you must also understand satiation. This is the body’s signal that tells you when to stop eating because you’re feeling full and no longer hungry.
As a quick recap:
- Satiety: how satisfied you feel after/in between meals.
- Satiation: what signals you to stop eating a meal.
Both satiety and satiation are initially influenced by sensory and cognitive factors, such as the taste, aroma or texture of something you’re about to eat or drink or the anticipation of an upcoming meal. This can make you feel hungry, ending satiety.
As you eat, the food travels to the stomach, increasing it in volume due to the food intake. This signals to the brain to begin satiation: to stop eating because you’re full. As digestion of the food continues, hormones are released that promote satiety and satiation.
Why does this matter?
If you find you’re always feeling hungry after a meal, you may not be eating foods that offer enough satiety to hold you over to the next meal.
How Satiety Affects Weight Loss
Both satiety and satiation play a key role in weight loss. After all, the more satiety you experience with a meal, the longer you stay satisfied. This can delay the time in which you need to eat again, and can also decrease the need to snack or consume unnecessary calories.
For example, eating a high-satiety meal for breakfast can keep you full until noon whereas a low-satiety meal for breakfast may have you feeling hungry around 10 or 11 a.m. With the latter, you’re much more likely to snack or overeat to satisfy the intense hunger you feel once it’s finally lunchtime.
As such, understanding satiety and satiation can be the secret weapon to losing weight. After all, if you can learn how to listen to these signals, they can:
- Help you stay fuller longer
- Decrease the need to snack or consume extra calories
- Manage calorie intake
- Assist with creating a caloric deficit
- Help you build meals around feeling fuller for longer
- Give you control of your appetite
- Reduce hunger
Tips for Increasing The Span of Satiety
There are various factors that influence both satiety and satiation. Understanding them can help you create meals in a way that allows you to satisfy hunger, increase satiety and feel fuller for longer.
Since satiation is triggered when the food stretches your stomach, enjoying a glass of water before or during your meal can help increase the volume without consuming more food.
Including more high-volume foods in your diet can help you feel full for longer than if you were to eat low-volume foods as they help increase gastric stretching to signal satiation. Some examples of high-volume foods to include in your meals to increase satiety are items with high fiber and water content, such as fruits and vegetables.
Eating more protein can help you feel full after a meal, with less food and it also seems to have a greater effect on satiety than the other macronutrients. This is largely because protein reduces your satiety hormone levels while increasing the hormone that makes you feel full. As a result, it can have a powerful effect on your appetite. Some high-protein foods to consider are fish, chicken, beef, pork, lamb, eggs, etc.
Similar to protein, including more fat in your diet can help with satiety and weight loss, as fat gets digested more slowly than other nutrients. This also slows down the rate at which your food leaves the stomach, which increases satiety. Some excellent examples of quality fat sources include nuts, seeds, dairy products, meat and poultry.
Enjoy more high-satiety foods
Simply enjoying more high-satiety foods can help you feel fuller for longer. Some examples are asparagus, shrimp, broccoli, cottage cheese, mackerel, eggs, and ribeye steak. On the other hand, you’ll want to limit your intake of low-satiety foods which are typically foods that offer minimal nutrients and/or that are highly processed.
In addition to eating foods that are high in protein and high in healthy fats, you’ll also want to consider your fiber intake. It can slow down the rate at which food leaves your stomach, allowing you to feel fuller longer. Some examples of high fiber foods to enjoy are beans, broccoli, berries, avocados and whole grains.
Take a leptin supplement
Leptin is a hormone that gets released to provide the sensation of satiety to help the body maintain your normal weight. Some foods that are high in leptin are berries, healthy oils, vegetables, legumes, lean meats, poultry, fish and whole grains. You can also take a leptin supplement.
Have a starter
Instead of diving right into a big meal, start with a healthy soup or salad to ease your hunger before the main course. This will help reduce your intake and feel fuller with a smaller portion.
Prioritize your sleep
Studies suggest that getting 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep each night can increase satiety. This is because ghrelin, your hunger hormone, is affected by your sleep patterns. In fact, adults who are sleep-deprived tend to have higher hunger hormones and feel more hungry and less full after a meal than those who get sufficient sleep at night.
Bringing mindfulness to the table can be an excellent way to slow down eating and reduce distractions so you can pay better attention to satiety and satiation cues. It’s also really easy to do: simply start by taking time with your food and engage all of your senses with every bite.
Spice things up
Adding a dash of seasoning to your meals can help increase satiety. This is because they help increase the flavor and heighten your senses and can even affect the part of the brain that controls hunger and satiety. So, add a pinch of cayenne, red pepper powder, oregano, cinnamon and cilantro into your next meal.
Eat off of a smaller plate
Since satiety and satiation are initially affected by sensory and cognitive factors, eating on a smaller plate can trick the brain into thinking it’s eating more, thus triggering satiety.
Increasing the span of time in which you experience satiety can help you achieve your weight loss goals, as it allows your body to feel fuller longer. It’s a healthy and effective way to shed some extra pounds, without having to follow a restrictive diet and rigorous exercise regime.
