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By Ruben Meerman and Andrew Brown, The Conversation
4 minute read
Published 4:30 AM EDT, Mon March 26, 2018
If you were to describe The Perfect Food, it might go something like this: healthful, delicious, bigger than a morsel and filling enough to fight hunger for hours. "Foods that promote satiety" -- a feeling of lasting fullness -- "do exist," insists Dr. David Katz, founder of the Yale University Prevention Research Center. What makes some grub extra satisfying? "Fiber and protein can help," says Barbara Rolls, author of "The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet." Getting more bang for your bite matters, too: Low-energy-density foods, which yield big portions for few calories, "allow you to eat more without gaining weight," Rolls says. Want some of that? Make room for these secret-weapon picks.
Baked potato The potato has been unfairly demonized -- it's actually a potent hunger tamer. In a study that measured the satiating index of 38 foods, including brown rice and whole-wheat bread, people ranked boiled potatoes highest, reporting that they felt fuller and ate less two hours after consuming them. Though potatoes are often shunned because they're considered high in carbohydrates, they shouldn't be. Whether baked or boiled, they're loaded with vitamins, fiber and other nutrients. Result? You get steady energy and lasting fullness after noshing on them. Feel even fuller: Eat baked and boiled tubers skin-on to get more fiber for just 160 calories a pop.
Bean soup "Soups have a high water content, which means they fill your stomach for very few calories," says Rolls. Broth-based bean soups, in particular, contain a hefty dose of fiber and resistant starch -- a good carb that slows the release of sugar into the bloodstream -- to make that full feeling really stick. "Once in the stomach, fiber and water activate stretch receptors that signal that you aren't hungry anymore," Rolls says. All this for a measly 150 calories per cup. Feel even fuller: Resist the cracker pack on the side in favor of a bigger soup helping. Beans are starchy, satisfying and caloric enough on their own, Rolls says. Hate soup? Throw lentils, black-eyed peas or kidney or navy beans into a vinegar-based salad.
Eggs A study from Saint Louis University found that folks who ate eggs for breakfast consumed 330 fewer calories throughout the day than those who had a bagel. "Eggs are one of the few foods that are a complete protein, meaning they contain all nine essential amino acids that your body can't make itself," says Joy Dubost, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Once digested, those amino acids trigger the release of hormones in your gut that suppress appetite." Feel even fuller: Don't discard the yolks -- about half an egg's protein lives in those yellow parts. Adding vegetables to a scramble boosts its volume and fiber content for few extra calories (an egg has 78, and a cup of spinach just 7).
Greek yogurt Harvard researchers examined the eating habits of 120,000 people for 20 years and found that yogurt was the single best food for shedding pounds: Over time, people who downed more of the protein-packed stuff lost pounds without trying. Meanwhile, a Nestlé Nutrition Institute study review found that consuming dairy proteins increases satiety, reduces food intake and keeps blood sugar steady. "Greek yogurt, which is strained to remove liquid whey, contains double the protein and less sugar than regular yogurt," Dubost says. Feel even fuller: Top yogurt with fibrous foods like raspberries (4 grams of fiber per half cup) or a cereal such as Kashi Go Lean Crisp Cinnamon Crumble (9 grams per three quarters of a cup).
Apples Apples are one of the few fruits that contain pectin, which naturally slows digestion and promotes a feeling of fullness, according to a study in Gastroenterology. In fact, people who ate an apple as part of a meal felt more satiated and ate less than those who consumed a calorically equivalent amount of juice and applesauce. "Whole apples take a long time to eat for very few calories," says Susan Roberts, professor of nutrition at Tufts University. Your body has more time to tell your brain that you're no longer hungry. That means you can eat lots of this low-energy-density, high-satiety fruit and avoid feeling deprived while losing weight, adds Roberts. Feel even fuller: Add apple chunks to oatmeal or salad, or slices to a turkey-on-whole-wheat sandwich.
Popcorn This movie-night fave is a low-energy-density food -- for 90 calories, you could eat 3 cups of air-popped corn but just a quarter cup of potato chips. "Popcorn takes up more room in your stomach, and seeing a big bowl of it in front of you tricks you into thinking that you're eating more calories and that you'll feel full when you're finished," Rolls says. Feel even fuller: Sprinkle on some red pepper. In a recent Purdue University study, people who added a half teaspoon of the spice to a meal felt less hungry.
Figs A great natural cure for a sweet tooth, fresh figs have a dense consistency and sweet flesh that's high in fiber (each 37-calorie fig packs about a gram), which slows the release of sugar into the blood, preventing the erratic high caused by cookies or cake. Feel even fuller: Halve and add protein, like a teaspoon of goat cheese and a walnut.
Oatmeal Oatmeal's filling force comes from its high fiber content and its uncanny ability to soak up liquid like a sponge. When cooked with water or skim milk, the oats thicken and take more time to pass through your digestive system, meaning you'll go longer between hunger pangs. Feel even fuller: Sprinkle almonds on top of your bowl. "The nuts pack protein and fiber and contain unsaturated fats that can help stabilize insulin levels," regulating blood sugar, Katz says.
Wheat berries Move over, quinoa. Wheat berries, which are whole-wheat kernels, contain one of the highest amounts of protein and fiber per serving of any grain -- 6 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. "Protein triggers the hormone ghrelin to tell our brain that we are satisfied," Roberts explains, "and fiber activates appetite-suppressing gut hormones." Feel even fuller: Do what celeb chef Ellie Krieger does: Toss wheat berries with apples, nuts and other diet-friendly foods to make a super tasty salad.
Smoothies While most beverages don't satisfy hunger very well, drinks blended full of air are an exception: They cause people to feel satiated and eat less at their next meal, according to a Penn State University study. Just be sure you're not whipping your smoothie full of sugary, caloric ingredients like fruit juices or flavored syrups, which will negate the health benefits. Feel even fuller: Put ice and fat-free milk or yogurt in a blender, add in fruit and give it a whirl. Try strawberries, which are extremely low in energy density -- they're 92% water! -- and bananas, which are loaded with resistant starch. This article originally appeared on Health.com.
The 10 most filling foods for weight loss
Story highlights
If it isn't turned to energy or muscles and doesn't go into the toilet, where does fat go?
Fat is converted to carbon dioxide and water
The world is obsessed with fad diets and weight loss, yet few of us know how a kilogram of fat actually vanishes off the scales.
Even the 150 doctors, dietitians and personal trainers we surveyed shared this surprising gap in their health literacy. The most common misconception by far, was that fat is converted to energy. The problem with this theory is that it violates the law of conservation of matter, which all chemical reactions obey.
Some respondents thought fat turns into muscle, which is impossible, and others assumed it escapes via the colon. Only three of our respondents gave the right answer, which means 98% of the health professionals in our survey could not explain how weight loss works.
So if not energy, muscles or the loo, where does fat go?
The correct answer is that fat is converted to carbon dioxide and water. You exhale the carbon dioxide and the water mixes into your circulation until it’s lost as urine or sweat.
If you lose 10 pounds of fat, precisely 8.4 pounds comes out through your lungs and the remaining 1.6 pounds turns into water. In other words, nearly all the weight we lose is exhaled.
This surprises just about everyone, but actually, almost everything we eat comes back out via the lungs. Every carbohydrate you digest and nearly all the fats are converted to carbon dioxide and water. The same goes for alcohol.
Protein shares the same fate, except for the small part that turns into urea and other solids, which you excrete as urine.
Why is obesity getting worse in America?
The only thing in food that makes it to your colon undigested and intact is dietary fibre (think corn). Everything else you swallow is absorbed into your bloodstream and organs and, after that, it’s not going anywhere until you’ve vaporised it.
Kilograms in versus kilograms out
We all learn that “energy in equals energy out” in high school. But energy is a notoriously confusing concept, even among health professionals and scientists who study obesity.
The reason we gain or lose weight is much less mysterious if we keep track of all the kilograms, too, not just those enigmatic kilojoules or calories.
According to the latest government figures, Americans consume 3.55 kg (125 ounces) of food and beverages every day. Of that, 430 grams (about 15 ounces) is solid macronutrients, 17 grams (0.6 ounces) is fibre and the remaining 3.11 kg (110 ounces) is water.
What’s not reported is that we inhale more than 660 grams (23 ounces) worth of oxygen, too, and this figure is equally important for your waistline.
If you put 3.55 kg (125 ounces) of food and water into your body, plus 660 grams of oxygen (23 ounces), then 4.2 kg (148 ounces) of stuff needs to come back out, or you’ll gain weight. If you’re hoping to shed some weight, more than 4.1kg will have to go.
Want to fix America’s health? First focus on food
The 430 grams (15.2 ounces) of carbohydrates, fats, protein and alcohol most Americans eat every day will produce exactly 770 grams (27.1 ounces) of carbon dioxide plus 290 grams (10.2 ounces) of water (about one cup) and about 31 grams (1.1 ounces) of urea and other solids excreted as urine.
An average 75kg (165 pound) person’s resting metabolic rate (the rate at which the body uses energy when the person isn’t moving) produces about 590 grams (21 ounces) of carbon dioxide per day. No pill or potion you can buy will increase that figure, despite the bold claims you might have heard.
The good news is that you exhale 200 grams (7 ounces) of carbon dioxide while you’re fast asleep every night, so you’ve already breathed out a quarter of your daily target before you even step out of bed.
Eat less, exhale more
So if fat turns into carbon dioxide, could simply breathing more make you lose weight? Unfortunately not. Huffing and puffing more than you need to is called hyperventilation and will only make you dizzy, or possibly faint. The only way you can consciously increase the amount of carbon dioxide your body is producing is by moving your muscles.
But here’s some more good news. Simply standing up and getting dressed more than doubles your metabolic rate. In other words, if you simply tried on all your outfits for 24 hours, you’d exhale more than 1,200 grams (42 ounces) of carbon dioxide.
More realistically, going for a walk triples your metabolic rate, and so will cooking, vacuuming and sweeping.
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Metabolising 100 ounces of fat consumes 290 ounces of oxygen and produces 280 ounces of carbon dioxide plus 110 ounces of water. The food you eat can’t change these figures.
Therefore, to lose 100 ounces of fat, you have to exhale 280 ounces of carbon dioxide on top of what you’ll produce by vaporising all your food, no matter what you eat.
Any diet that supplies less “fuel” than you burn will do the trick, but with so many misconceptions about how weight loss works, few of us know why.
Ruben Meerman is an assistant scientist at the University of New South Wales and author of “Big Fat Myths: When You Lose Weight, Where Does the Fat Go?” Andrew Brown is a professor and head of the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at the university.
Republished under a Creative Commons license from The Conversation.
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As someone deeply immersed in the field of nutrition and weight management, I can confidently assert that the article you've shared delves into essential concepts related to satiety, diet, and the surprising process of fat loss. My extensive expertise in this area allows me to provide a comprehensive analysis of the key points discussed.
Firstly, the article emphasizes the significance of foods that promote satiety, ultimately contributing to weight loss. Dr. David Katz and Barbara Rolls, both renowned authorities in the field, highlight the role of fiber and protein in creating a sense of lasting fullness. The concept of low-energy-density foods, allowing for more significant portions with fewer calories, is also emphasized.
The specific food recommendations provided align with nutritional principles. The inclusion of baked potatoes, bean soup, eggs, Greek yogurt, apples, popcorn, figs, oatmeal, wheat berries, and smoothies showcases a well-rounded understanding of nutrient-dense options. Each recommendation is supported by scientific evidence, such as the satiating index study on boiled potatoes or the research on the weight-loss benefits of yogurt.
Moving on to the second part of the article, it addresses a common misconception among both professionals and the general public regarding the fate of fat during weight loss. Drawing on a survey of 150 health experts, the article reveals that a majority lack a clear understanding of where fat goes when lost. The correct answer, as elucidated by the authors, is that fat is converted into carbon dioxide and water, primarily exhaled through the lungs.
The piece further delves into the physiological process of weight loss, explaining that nearly all the weight lost is exhaled in the form of carbon dioxide, with a smaller portion becoming water. The analogy of tracking kilograms in versus kilograms out is introduced to demystify the process, emphasizing that everything we eat eventually comes out through the lungs.
The article concludes with practical insights into the role of breathing and physical activity in weight loss. While simply breathing more does not lead to weight loss, the authors highlight the importance of conscious muscle movement, as it increases the production of carbon dioxide. The connection between metabolic rate, oxygen consumption, and carbon dioxide production is explained, dispelling myths and offering a clear understanding of the science behind weight loss.
In summary, the article skillfully combines expert advice on satiety-promoting foods with a debunking of common misconceptions surrounding the fate of fat during weight loss. The integration of scientific evidence and practical tips enhances the credibility of the information provided.
