Fiber Or Protein, Which Makes You Fuller?

Many people who go on diets believe that a large salad by itself, is an excellent meal.

They may add a few pieces of chicken but for the most part they are eating vegetables.

I actually had a patient tell me he went on a “salad diet” for an entire year!

I asked him what about protein.  He said he thought a plant based diet was better for his diabetes.

This didn’t work out too well for him as he ended up in the hospital with extreme anemia.

Extremes of eating are never good, even if what you are eating is fresh and unprocessed.

There has to be a balance, as with everything in life.

We need a good mix of foods from the 3 macronutrient groups: protein, carbohydrate and fat.

To keep it simple, I like the idea of each macronutrient taking up about one third of the plate, or roughly one third of the total calorie intake for the entire day.

Now regarding vegetables, many people will find that a meal of mostly vegetables will fill you, because it is high in bulky fiber.

However the satisfaction of your hunger with vegetables is not very long lasting.

Why is this?!

Vegetables (carbs with fiber) do not do a good job of blocking the hunger hormone ghrelin.

To block this powerful hunger hormone the strongest, you need protein.

Protein rich meals satisfy you the most.  They keep hunger away the longest.

So have your vegetables yes, but have a good bit of protein with them.  And don’t forget fat as well!  Fat from naturally occuring fatty foods.  

Now, there may seem to be a lot of little nuances to food and eating.

However, it’s really not that complicated if we don’t stray too far away from nature.

When most of the food you eat is easy to recognize without a label, and you include roughly equal amounts of food from the 3 major macronutrient groups everyday, you are off to a good start.

Wanna learn more?

A great way to get an overall understanding of food and healthier choices in a short space of time is during my Eat More, Weigh Less Challenge.   

I run this challenge a few times throughout the year so register for the next one, or get on the waitlist.

I hope to see you on the challenge!