After my second pregnancy – I tipped the scales  at 13 and a half stone! EEEK!

Over my life – I have tried HUNDREDS of different weight loss strategies – practically everyone there is! I’ve got a cupboard BULGING with weight loss books and I’ve researched and scoured the internet for information and done my own bit of information analysis.

Here are the diet tips which I have found to be the MOST EFFECTIVE in THE REAL WORLD, for helping me shift the pounds – taking me from 13 and a half stone (after my pregnancy), down to 10 and a half (and still going down) at a rate of about 4 pounds a week – WITHOUT exercise.
Although I know that exercise will increase the speed of weight loss and resistance exercise will reduce the amount of lean muscle lost – I am just so busy at the moment – I just don’t have the time – though I acknowledge that I’m sure I could find the time for a bit of resistance. In fact – I WILL schedule that in from today!!

But these are my BEST DIET TPS for getting fast results, without leaving me so hungry that I can’t go about doing the numerous tasks which are required of me as a full time mum of two (under 3 years old)! I don’t function at all when I‘m hungry so starvation diets aren’t an option for me at all!

1) Porridge for breakfast! A big bowl of porridge made with whole rolled oats and skimmed milk and sweetened with Splenda takes a while to eat and will keep me full for hours.
To make it more edible – if you’re not a fan of porridge – you can get creative – with strawberries, blueberries, cinnamon, sprinkles of almonds or other nuts, cocoa etc.
If I miss this out – I end up eating too much of something else – like toast or cereal, wanting something to snack on soon after, and even eating more at lunch time!!

2) Apples for snacks – filling and low calorie!

3) Sugar –free chewing gum is good for when you’re not actually hungry – but just ‘fancy’ something. This is definitely one of my all time top life savers !

4) Low- fat protein and carbs lunch-time meal. If possible – with lots of vegetables.

5) And my absolute TOP TIP is this: try to have your last meal before 6pm.
I am often hungry about 5pm. In the past – I would have had a snack – a sandwich or something and then my evening meal with my partner later on.
I think this was a big part of what made me put on so much weight in the first place.
What I do now is; instead of the snack – I have my evening meal when I’m hungry at about 5pm.
This gives me the energy I need to do all the evening stuff -like putting children to bed and tidying and dishes etc.
Then when most things are done and I can relax- this is a good time to be strict about not eating more – as I don’t need that full feeling to enable me to get on with things.

I’ve found having a few decaff coffees REALLY helps to stop me reaching for snacks in the evening. I’m not sure why – but it really works!
For me – this has been the key which has really supercharged my weight loss and now when I look at the scales in the morning – I’ve seen a consistent drop of a pound every day or at least every 2 days!!

Even if I’ve ‘sinned’ during the day – I’ve found that following this rule – means that – at worst – my weight  just stays the same.
Also – try not to go to bed too late – as the longer you stay up – the more likely it is that cravings will hit and you’ll go raiding the cupboards. We’ve all been there!
Also – getting enough sleep is scientifically proven (don’t you know!)to reduce cravings for foods high in fat and sugar!

6) Aim for low– fat options wherever possible – this will make a big difference, (nothing new there though.)

7.) TRY to have SMALLER PORTIONS. If you’re like me -you probably think that you couldn’t possibly and you won’t be able to function on less.
I prepare myself a smaller portion than I initially think I might need and then, instead of going back for more, (as I used to!), I fill up on  something super low calorie but filling. For me – that is a Cup-A-Soup with croutons (are the most satisfying) and by the time I’ve finished that, I’m feeling full and happy to go on my way.
So by replacing half of the meal with something really low calorie but filling, I have really reduced the calorie content of the meal, without leaving me feeling deprived. That’s what you want!

I’ll add to this – as inspiration strikes – but for now – I hope some of these diet tips will work as well for you as they have for me and help you tame the raging appetite and get a bit closer to your weight-loss dreams.

Just been reading about ‘The Champagne Diet” on mailonline.
I think the premise of the diet; to eat good quality food, is an obvious one. But that doesn’t have to mean more expensive.
For most people, drinking champagne everyday is just not feasible.

However, what I do like about this diet is the fact that alcohol is not forbidden.
I have found having  a few alcoholic drinks here and there (in moderation of course!) to be very useful when I am trying to lose weight.
The reason for this is that alcoholic drinks are viewed by the body as fuel and they do actually curb your appetite for a while.

So, for example, if I am starving before preparing a meal, a gin and tonic while I prepare the meal will help to stop me from picking at more calorific snack foods.
Or if I have the urge to snack while I’m watching TV in the evening, rather than having a bowl of ice cream or toast, I might have another gin and tonic!

I have found that an alcoholic drink satisfies my hunger more for fewer calories than most snack foods.

It’s nice to have a drink too – as it really does help you relax after a tough day.
The moderate consumption of alcohol is associated with better health and longer life than is either abstaining from alcohol or abusing alcohol.
 However, heavy drinking is associated with cirrhosis of the liver, breast cancer, and other health problems. The key word is moderation.

There are a few more reasons why a tipple of an evening could help weight loss:

Alcohol appears to raise metabolic rate significantly.

Other research has shown that the consumption of sugar decreases as the consumption of alcohol increases.

I have found that if I have a drink in the evening, I tend to have less sugar cravings the following day, so it could help to combat a sweet tooth!

Whatever the reasons are, the consumption of alcohol is not associated with weight gain and is sometimes associated with weight loss in women.
The medical evidence for this is based on a large number of studies of thousands of people around the world. Some of these studies are very large; one involved nearly 80,000 and another included 140,000 subjects.

However, alcohol may cause weight gain, if drunk in large amounts or as additional calories to your usual diet.   

The best way to include alcohol in your diet, is to replace one or two of your usual snacks with a unit or two of your favourite alcoholic tipple, remembering to stay within moderate drinking guidelines of course!

To maximize the weight loss effects, choose alcoholic drinks which are low in calories.
“The Champagne Diet” champions champagne as it is lower in calories than wine, but there are many other cheaper drinks which are also low in calories and even lower than champagne.
 Below is a comparison of the amount of calories per unit of alcohol for some common drinks:

1/3 pint of beer: 73kcal

1 single measure spirits: 52kcal

1 small glass wine: 85kcal

1 small glass sherry: 56kcal

1 small glass champagne: 77kcal.

So, although champagne has fewer calories than wine, spirits have far fewer calories than champagne.

Spirits are the winner in terms of fewer calories per unit of alcohol.
This is only the case if the mixer you use is low calorie though, so make sure your tonic is slimline or your lemonade or coke is diet.

Alternatively, you could make a glass of wine lower in calories by making it a spritzer with diet lemonade or slimline tonic.

If you prefer beer, Coors Light Beer is the best choice. Stella Artois contains 102 calories per unit of alcohol compared to 71 calories per unit for a Coors Light Beer. To make beer even less calorific, make it a shandy with diet lemonade.

If you are going to make having a drink a regular part of your diet, it’s important to know that The Royal College of Physicians recommends that alcohol consumption be no more than 21 units a week for men; 14 units for women.
It’s better to spread alcohol units throughout the week, than to drink large amounts in a single day or weekend.

Therefore women should aim to consume no more than 2 units a day; men 3 units a day.

In general, protein is more satiating than either carbohydrates or fats, (particularly in the long term). 
It turns out that certain proteins are more satiating  than other proteins.

Study participants that consumed either alpha-lactalbumin or gelatin at breakfast

•  consumed 20% fewer calories at lunch

compared to those consuming casein, soy, or whey at breakfast.

•  Appetite ratings 3 hours after breakfast showed a 40% greater satiation for the groups that consumed either alpha-lactalbumin or gelatin at breakfast!!

Gelatin is derived from collagen… the most common protein in the human body. 
The best sources of gelatin are broths from cooking animal bones and skin (e.g. homemade chicken soup). 
Sugar free Jelly products are also a decent source.

Alpha-lactalbumin is found in milk and whey proteins.

If you don’t fancy jelly on it’s own – a good low-calorie dessert or sweet snack option would be reduced-sugar jelly with a small portion of low-fat ice-cream and if you must – a squeeze of chocolate sauce shouldn’t do too much damage!

Studies by Australian researcher Dr. Susanna Holt and her associates at the University of Sydney have developed one of the most exciting diet concepts ever. Called, the “Satiety Index,” Holt’s tool ranks different foods on their ability to satisfy hunger.

Holt drew up the Satiety Index by feeding 240-calorie portions of 38 different foods to volunteers. The foods were served from under a hood to minimize the influence of appearance, and, if possible, they were served at the same temperature and in the same size chunks.

After eating, the volunteers told the scientists what their appetite ratings were, but they were not allowed anything else for the next two hours. Then, after two hours, they were then allowed to eat from a small buffet, where the scientists measured how much they nibbled from a variety of other foods. Their consumption was closely monitored, and every 15 minutes they were questioned about their hunger to see if their subjective impression of satisfaction matched their eating behavior.

Using white bread as the baseline of 100, 38 different foods were ranked. In other words, foods scoring higher than 100 are more satisfying than white bread and those under 100 are less satisfying.

 (apologies for the top row – having a little trouble with the HTML – will correct it as soon as I can).

Surprising Findings from the Satiety Index

Potatoes are nearly 3 times more filling than white pasta!

Popcorn is nearly as filling as whole-meal bread.

Popcorn is more filling than All-Bran.

Sugar Puffs are more filling than white pasta and the same as brown rice!

Sugar Puffs are more filling than Special K!

Cookies are more filling than white pasta, cornflakes, bananas, Special K, muesli, yogurt, ice-cream and crisps!

Bananas are only about as filling as french-fries.

French-fries are more filling than white bread and muesli and yogurt!

White bread is only slightly more filling than ice-cream.

Ice-cream is a more filling sweet snack than chocolate bars and cakes.

Crisps are more filling than chocolate bars and cakes.

Peanuts are less filling than ice-cream and crisps.

Not that surprising – but chocolate bars and cakes are the least filling (therefore worst food choices for weight-loss) of all the foods.

You can read my analysis of these findings in my post; ‘Lessons Learned from the Satiety Index – Which Food Properties Are Most Important For Filling Us Up For Less  Calories?’

From what we know about how different food properties affect the satiety of different foods (as discussed in the post just mentioned above), low-fat cheeses, such as Feta, Ricotta and goat’s cheese would probably have something closer in satiety score to baked beans or beef, when we consider the extremely detrimental effects of high fat content for a food’s satiety score. (We can see this when we compare the satiety score for boiled potatoes with that of french-fries; 323% compared to 116%.)

 Lower fat versions of ice-cream would have a higher satiety score too – perhaps closer to that of white pasta or cookies.
This would be provided that the fat calories had not been replaced by extra sugar calories in the product.
You could check this by comparing the calories per 100g for the low fat version with the calories per 100g for the high fat version. The low fat version should have less calories per 100g.

Although potatoes are the only vegetables included in ‘The Satiety Index’; the evidence from analysis of the results for other foods, indicates that fibre,  especially soluble fibre, when combined in foods with high water content, increases satiety significantly.

From this, we can conclude that most vegetables, with their low calorie content and high fibre/water content, will contribute significantly to satiety, whilst contributing very little, in terms of calories.
I.e. vegetables are great low calorie filing foods to assist weight-loss.

There are many studies which support this theory:

Researchers wanted to test the effect of consuming salads as a first course and how this affected the amount of calories eaten in the main course.
The researchers tested salads with varying energy density and portion size. The findings of this study was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

42 participants were asked to eat first-course salads of varying energy density and portion size.
They were asked to finish their first course meals.
They were then given pasta as their main course. They were allowed to eat as much pasta as they wanted.

The researchers measured the amount of calories consumed in the main course and levels of satiety. The researchers found the following when comparing with those having no first course;

• consuming the low-energy-dense salads reduced meal energy intake by
  • 7% for the small portion
  • 12% for the large portion

• consuming the high-energy-dense salads increased intake by
  • 8% for the small portion
  • 17% for the large portion

 The calorie density of salads are affected by the dressings.

The researchers concluded that eating low-energy-dense salads, enhanced satiety and reduced the amount of calories eaten in the main course.

They further said that a salad for weight loss is an effective strategy when a large portion is eaten before meals. The salads have to be of low energy density.

This study shows that the addition of more vegetables into the diet  increases satiety whilst contributing relatively few calories, meaning that we eat less of more calorific foods to reach fullness.

The extra vegetables will only assist weight-loss if they are added without the addition of extra fat, in the form of high-calorie dressings, as too much fat has little effect on satiety, whilst contributing a lot of calories.

The salad doesn’t have to be served before the meal, to have this effect. It can be served with the main meal.
I am in the habit of eating most of my meals with salad now and I really miss it if I don’t have it now.
I dress it with lemon juice and Sumaq.

More Evidence For The Power of Vegetables to Assist Weight-Loss.

In another study, normal-weight women were served breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks over three 2-day periods. At meals they could eat as much of a main dish as they wanted.

The main dishes were all low in fat, but they varied in vegetable content.

For example, for lunch, the women were served a pasta dish.
On some days, the pasta salad had fewer vegetables and more pasta, on other days, some of the pasta was replaced with chopped vegetables.

On the days when more of the pasta was replaced with vegetables, the participants consumed 30% fewer calories!

They felt just as full and satisfied, but they were consuming 400 fewer calories each day!

This is clear evidence that the vegetables used in this study would be  higher in the satiety index than pasta at least!

In the BBC documentary, ‘10 Things You Should Know About  Losing Weight’, a study was carried out to show the effects on the part of the brain controlling appetite of allowing ourselves to get too hungry.

The man being studied had brain scans when presented with pictures of food in two different conditions.
The first condition was following a full breakfast.
When shown pictures of both low and high calorie food, the part of the brain controlling appetite didn’t produce much activity.

The second condition was with no breakfast.
The same part of the brain lit up much more when presented with high calorie foods compared to when presented with low calorie foods.
This means that we  crave  high calorie foods when we allow ourselves to get too hungry and we are far more likely to make bad choices.
It may cause us to absolutely reject lower calorie options, as we feel that only the high calorie food option can satisfy us. (You’re probably familiar with that feeling!)
So the way to prevent cravings for high calorie foods, is to make sure that we have eaten enough lower calorie filling foods at meal times to fill us up and then to not allow ourselves to get too hungry before eating something else which is lower calorie and filling.

For tips on how to make meals more filling, you can read my post; ‘Lessons From the Satiety Index: How to Make Meals More Filling For Fewer Calories’  

Or you can follow this link to find low-calorie filling snack ideas , to prevent you from getting too hungry between meals.

A study carried out for a documentary by the BBC, found that if a typical meal such as chicken and vegetables with a glass of water, is consumed, you will typically feel full for a couple of hours before hunger kicks in.

However, if you blend the food with the water, to make soup – you will stay hunger free fro much longer and less likely to snack through the afternoon.

 After you eat a meal, the pyloric sphincter valve at the bottom of your stomach holds food back so that the digestive juices can get to work.

Water, however, passes straight through the sphincter to your intestines, so drinking water does not contribute to “filling you up”.

When you eat the same meal as a soup, the whole mixture remains in the stomach, because the water and food are blended together.

The scientists’ scans confirm that;

• the stomach stays fuller for longer, staving off those hunger pangs and between-meal snack cravings.

 Ghrelin – Appetite Hormone with Important Role In Weight-Loss

 The key to this low-tech weapon against hunger is a hormone called ghrelin. It is one of the major players in the body’s appetite system.

Discovered as recently as 1999, ghrelin is released by specialised cells in the stomach wall.

 These cells produce a constant stream of ghrelin whenever the stomach is empty. The ghrelin travels via the blood stream to the brain’s appetite centre, an organ called the hypothalamus. As a result, the hypothalamus screams “You are hungry – find food.”

But whenever the stomach wall is stretched – when the stomach is full – the cells stop producing ghrelin, and the hypothalamus responds accordingly, turning off the appetite signal. The longer the stomach remains full, the longer you feel satisfied and the less you are likely to eat.

The stomach gradually empties, more slowly for the soup than the solid meal plus water. The BBC staged an experiment for the programme, ‘10 Things You Need to Know About Losing Weight’.

In this experiment, and in previous experiments,

•  participants reported feeling full for up to an hour-and-a-half longer than their solid meal counterparts.

 Unfortunately, the appetite system is complex and still poorly understood.

There are probably dozens of hormones that play a role in regulating appetite.
Of those that have already been discovered, there is one that is released after eating protein-rich meals (called PYY), one that is released by fat cells (leptin) and several that respond to the presence of any kind of food.

But of all the hormones that make up the appetite system, it is ghrelin that has caused the most interest.
In addition to its role in sending the “stomach empty” signal to the brain, ghrelin also promotes fat storage!!

Even worse, it inhibits the breakdown of stored fat during times of weight loss. Inject ghrelin into the bloodstream of a rat and the animal eats insatiably – and quickly becomes obese.

So, if you attempt to diet , without controlling the release of ghrelin, you will find it a lot more difficult , as you will be hungry and also, ghrelin will be prompting your body to store fat and inhibiting the breakdown of your fat stores!

 In 2006, scientists at the Scripps Research Centre in the US developed a vaccine to counteract the influence of ghrelin, in an attempt to control appetite.

It is still undergoing clinical trials – so for now, the best and simplest way to keep hunger at bay is to reduce your stomach’s release of ghrelin: and one of the best ways to do this is to blend your food into a healthy, voluminous soup.

1) Use low- fat cheese spread on your toast instead of butter, or low-fat spread.

2.) Use low-fat melted cheese on your toast, instead of butter.

3.) Have reduced-fat hummus on your toast instead of butter.

4.) Instead of a sandwich with butter; make a pizza with your toast (prepared with minimum oil, tomato paste,  low-fat cheese, and the more vegetables the better – to make it more filling for fewer calories).

5.) Substitute lower-fat versions for high-fat versions of frequently eaten foods, e.g. low-fat mayo, low-fat salad dressings, low-fat soups, low-fat cheeses, skimmed milk, low-fat ice cream.

6.) Stop frying foods.
Poach or boil your eggs, broil your chicken and fish in water, stock or wine (the meat is a lot more juicy done this way too), steam,  broil or microwave vegetables, in a little water, grill mushrooms, create soup or casserole and stew style dishes, which serve the meat and vegetables with the water it is cooked in, so that the flavours and juices which leach into the water are not lost. 

7.) Trim fat from steaks, remove skin from chicken, choose lean cuts of meats and lean minces, and choose lower fat types of meat, such as chicken and fish.

8.) If you fancy cheese with your meal; go for low- fat versions of cheeses, e.g low-fat mozzarella, or older, more mature cheeses with a strong flavour, which mean that you can add less without compromising on flavour, e.g Parmesan.

9.) Make fruit your friend in combating the chocolate/cake/crisp/cookie cravings – have as much fruit as you like to satisfy the craving and prevent you from going for the vending machine.

Apples are the best (with lots of fibre), oranges and melon are very good too – but any amount of any fruit is better than the dreaded c-words.

10.) BE PREPARED and take fruit or other good low-calorie, filling snack foods or packed lunches with you when you go out, to battle those cravings for  choccies, crisps and cakes.
Stock up your cupboards with good low-calorie filling snack  foods , to fight off  cravings for the bad stuff.

What can we learn from the Satiety Index about the effects of different food properties on how filling a food will be?

 Increasing the Fat Ratio of a Food Decreases its Satiety Index Score And Makes It More Fattening.

Boiled potatoes have the highest satiety score, at 323%, however french-fries have a much lower score of 116%.

This confirms what we already know; that increasing the fat ratio of a food, reduces it’s satiety dramatically.
It confirms that we can be confident that if there is a lower fat version of any food available of any type of food, we should take it if we wish to feel fuller for fewer calories.

Even if more sugar has been added to the lower- fat food option, the sugar will have a greater effect on satiety than the higher fat content would have.

You can find tips on how to decrease the fat content in your diet in my post, ‘Ten Ways To Reduce The Fat Content Of Your Diet.’

 Soluble Fibre and Protein are the Winners for Short –Term Satiety but Protein May Be the Winner for Long-Term Satiety.

 In this study, the high soluble fibre content of the potatoes and fruit has outweighed in importance for satiety, the lack of protein, when their satiety scores are compared to most of the protein foods.

 However, fish has a dramatically higher satiety value than other protein sources; 225%, compared to beef’s 176% and it is higher than all the other high scoring carbohydrate foods.

 Ling Fish is a low-fat protein and this suggests that the other protein foods on the list would have much higher satiety scores, if low-fat versions of these foods were used, i.e. beef with the fat cut off or low-fat cheese.

We could extrapolate that other low fat protein sources would have high satiety scores, such as chicken with the skin removed, turkey mince and shell fish. 

However, potatoes with their complex carbohydrates and high soluble fibre content, do come in as the winner, scoring a lot higher than fish.

This might suggest that soluble fibre content outweighs in importance for satiety, protein.

However, protein may in fact keep you fuller for longer than potatoes would.

 In the BBC TV programme; ’10 things you should know about losing weight’; an experiment was conducted to show which foods kept people fuller for longer:

 3 breakfasts were prepared with the same number of calories, for 3 men
Mick had a carb rich breakfast (10% more carbs).
Willie had 10% more fat.
Charlie had 10% more protein.
The 3 men were asked to rate how hungry they felt every hour on the hour.
After 4 hrs, the results confirm that Charlie felt fuller for longer and research shows that Charlie is also more likely to eat less at lunch.

 This experiment measures longer term satiety than the study which was used to compose The Satiety Iindex.

Suzanne Holt, the study’s author says ‘Although most foods with high Satiety Index scores kept fullness relatively high for the whole two hours, there were a few exceptions. The fruits were served in very large portions, but fullness dropped off quickly towards the end of the second hour, reflecting the rapid rate of gastric emptying (oranges and apples and grapes are mainly sugar and water),” she adds.

She says that most foods with high Satiety Index scores kept fullness high for the whole two hours, which we can take to mean potatoes and the protein foods; fish, beans, beef, eggs, cheese and also  porridge, whole-meal bread and popcorn.

 I haven’t found evidence yet about the longer term satiety of these higher scoring carbohydrate foods, but we do know from studies, such as the one I have just mentioned above that protein is generally more effective for long-term satiety than carbohydrate foods.

Also, excess protein calories are lost in the process of digestion, so I could not say with absolute certainty, that potatoes are the absolute best foods for satiety and weight loss.

I can say with certainty, however, that they are very high contenders and may be on a par or even better than protein foods when it comes to satiety and weight- loss. 

Effects of Soluble and Insoluble Fibre on Satiety.

 There are dramatic differences in satiety scores between the different carbohydrate foods in the index.
So what food property is accounting for these differences?

 Examining the correlations between soluble and insoluble fibre and satiety, indicates strongly that it could be the fibre content that is affecting their varying satiety scores.

Fibre content given in grams per usual serving size.

                                     Insoluble  Fibre          Soluble Fibre              Satiety Score

Potatoes :                     1.6                               2.2                               323%

Porridge                       3.0                               1.3                               209%

Orange                         2.0                               1.3                               202%

Apple                           0.7                               2.3                               197%

Wholegrain Bread         2.8                               0.08                             154%

Lentils                          3.9                               0.6                               133%

White Pasta                  0.8                               0.03                             119%

 Bananas                       0.7                               0.6                               118%

Cornflakes                    0.5                               0.0                               118%

White Bread                 0.5                               0.03                             100%

  We can see, first of all,  that there is a definite correlation between decreasing soluble fibre content and satiety score, apart from apples, which are higher in soluble fibre content than the top three satiety scorers.
This anomaly might be due to potatoes being a complex carbohydrate and oranges having a higher water content.

But otherwise, there is a clear correlation. 

 The correlation is not so clear for the insoluble fibre content, indicating that soluble fibre content is more important, when it comes to satiety.

However, it does clearly have an effect. When we compare wholegrain bread to white bread, it has a significantly higher satiety score, despite it having a very similar soluble fibre content.

Also, lentils have a similar soluble fibre content to bananas, but a much higher insoluble fibre content and a correspondingly higher satiety score.

Energy Density and Satiety

Although differing energy densities may account for a few anomalies in the trend between fibre content and satiety, the energy density of foods does not appear to have the same power to affect satiety as does fibre and protein content.

 This is evidenced by the low satiety scores for ice-cream and yogurt (both of which are fairly low energy-dense foods).

 Conclusions

Soluble fibre and protein are the most important food properties, when it comes to increasing satiety, in the short term at least.

Insoluble fibre content also has a significant effect, though less so than protein or soluble fibre.

 So which other foods have high soluble fibre content and would therefore be beneficial for weight-loss?

 Sprouts, broccoli, onions, carrots, peas, chick peas, strawberries, mushrooms.

Viscosity Effects

For the low scoring, non-fibrous,  low-protein carbohydrate foods in the index, the difference in satiety scores between them seems to be due to their fat content, rather than their energy density.
Surprisingly, cookies and crackers score higher than yogurt, despite having a higher energy density or fat content. 

This could be accounted for by the effects of a foods viscosity.  
Dry foods, such as cookies are more satiating than moist foods like donuts. Foods with high moisture binding capabilities such as cheese, porridge and potatoes can also increase viscosity of stomach contents.”

 Top Tips From the Lessons Learned From The Satiety Index 

1.) Aim to base meals around potatoes (best choice) or wholegrain bread, rather than white bread or pasta.

2.) Always include protein in the meal, preferably a low-fat protein source.

3.) Reduce fat content, wherever possible.

4.) Include as many fibrous vegetables in meals as you can creatively incorporate.

What is it that defines one food as more “fattening’ than another food?

Is it whether it is low-fat? Low-carb? High Protein? Low energy-density? Its fibre content? It’s Glycemic Index?

The answer is simply – which foods are the most filling for the least number of calories.

All of the major diet trends, I’ve mentioned above, have been successful because they have found one food property which contributes to a food being more filling for fewer calories, thus enabling easier weight loss and greater success.

 All of the food properties listed above contribute to a food being more filling for fewer calories, so for example, in general, lowering the fat content of foods will make them more filling for fewer calories, increasing the protein content will do the same, as will lowering the energy density, glycaemic index and increasing fibre content.

However, it is a mistake to apply only one of these factors and take that as the only criteria by which we measure the ‘fatteningness’ of all foods.

 For example, ranking all food according to its fat content and believing that this will be an accurate way of ranking all foods according to their ‘fatteningness’, would be misleading. 

For example, a low fat ice-cream is actually more ‘fattening’ than a steak, which could be a lot higher in fat.
The reason for this is that a steak has many other food properties which make it more filling for fewer calories, despite its higher fat content.
The other filling food properties it owns, such as its high protein content and chewiness, outweigh the negative effects of its fat content, in terms of being filling.

Although , it would still be fair to say that cutting off any fatty parts of the steak would reduce it’s ‘fatteningness’ further still.

Another example, would be using the Glycaemic Index by which to judge any foods ‘fatteningness’.
Although, often a lower GI value would indicate that a food would be less fattening, this is not always the case.
For example, a chocolate bar has a lower GI value than parsnips.
Chocolate bars are in fact more fattening than parsnips, because the negative food property of a chocolate bar, i.e. its being very high in fat, outweighs the positive effects of it’s having a lower GI value, in terms of its being more filling.

What I have just pointed out is that each food has to be evaluated, individually, according to its filling or fattening food properties, and when all these factors are taken into account, it can be judged as more or less fattening than other foods.

 The main factors , which contribute to a foods value in terms of its being more or less fattening are;

 1)      Fat content – lower the better.

2)      Protein content – higher the better

3)      Water content – higher the better

4)      Soluble-fibre content – higher the better.

But how do we evaluate each food, weighing up the different factors, to determine which foods are in fact more filling and less fattening?

 This can only be done by individually testing different foods to determine their ‘filling-ness’.

Luckily for us, this has actually been done, in a research study.

 The study measures how filling individual foods are, for a set number of calories, thereby enabling the ranking of specific foods, from the least to the most filling, for a set number of calories.

 The results of this study provide the most accurate ranking of an individual foods ‘fattening-ness’ compared to other foods, ever made.

It has been named the Satiety Index and this is the ranking index by which I now make my food choices, as I know that the foods which rank higher will be the foods which will fill me up for the fewest calories, thereby enabling me to take in fewer calories more easily, resulting in greater weight-loss success.

You can read more about ‘The Satiety Index’ and find The Satiety Index chart, which shows a lot of the most commonly eaten foods, as ranked according to their ability to satisfy hunger and stave off further food cravings, by following the above link.