8 Foods That Will Keep You Satisfied

The best trick to lose pounds is to achieve the feeling of “satisfied stomach”. With the following foods, you will find it much easier to get it.

1. Roasted or boiled potato

It has a reputation for fattening and is not true (except if it is fried). It provides energy in the form of starch, but three quarters of its composition is water and barely contains fat: 100 g of cooked or roasted potatoes only add 70 kcal.

Compared with other foods rich in carbohydrates, their caloric density (the calories a food has in relation to its weight) is low.

If cooked and eaten with skin, it provides fiber that, together with the water it contains, slows digestion and fills the stomach even more.

When you fry it, all that changes: it loses a lot of water and its caloric value goes up because it absorbs a lot of fat.

2. Mushrooms

They hardly contribute fats and, even if they are a large portion, they do not cause weight gain.

This is due to its high percentage of water (between 80 and 90%) and its richness in fiber.

Mushrooms contain a large amount of beta-glucans, a type of fiber that, due to its benefits, has been the subject of a multitude of studies in recent years.

Research has shown that eating mushrooms twice a day (one at breakfast, for example as scrambled) sats more than the same amount of meat.

3. Oatmeal, a fiber champion

It contains soluble fiber, a good ally to satiate and calm hunger. Once in the stomach, it “captures” water and swells, forming a kind of gel.

When this happens, the walls of the stomach relax and the nervous receptors send the brain the warning to stop eating, because a good level of satiety has already been achieved.

It can be taken in grain (prepare it as rice), but it is more often done in raw or cooked flakes. If you choose it for breakfast, substitute bread or whole grains.

Unlike other more processed cereals, sugar is not usually added (check it on the label) and it is not refined (it keeps the whole grain). Therefore, your contribution in fiber and proteins is intact, which will fill you longer.

4. Avocado, in cubes or crushed

It is true that it has a higher caloric density than the rest of fruits, since for the same amount it contributes more calories than the rest (100 g equals 160 kcal).

It explains its richness in fats, although almost 72% are monounsaturated fats (such as oleic acid), so they are healthy. If you take it with moderation, it does not make you fat and it satisfies.

According to a study carried out by the Loma Linda University in California (USA) published in Nutrition Journal, taking half an avocado in the food provides a “full” sensation 3-5 hours in overweight adults.

Precisely for that digestive “calm” that it leaves us, it helps to avoid other less healthy and even more caloric foods. Enjoy it by adding it to salads, such as guacamole or pate, or with slices on toast.

5. Legumes, lasting energy

Like oats, its fiber is mostly soluble, so when in contact with water it swells, “occupies more” and slows down the digestive process.

Beans are the ones with the highest satiating capacity, followed by lentils.

Your satiety may be accompanied by digestive discomfort, precisely because they may be flatulent. To avoid this, add cumin, ginger or fennel. You can also have a natural yogurt for dessert.

It is a mistake to combine them with processed meats in consistent and caloric stews. Prepare them better in the form of cold or warm salads, sautéed with vegetables (they will satisfy you even more) or as puree.

6. Eggs at breakfast

It is a food with a high satiating power.

A study by the University of Connecticut (USA) showed that eating an egg at breakfast helps lose weight because it provides enough satiety until the next meal.

It allows more preparations than what is supposed: in tortilla, scrambled, poached, in the bain-marie, in the oven…

7. Fish at noon

It has been proven that fish has more satiating effect than other protein foods of animal origin.

A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition compared the effect of fish proteins with those of beef and observed that people who ate fish in food reduced by 11% the calories they ate at dinner. day.

That ability to “postpone” the feeling of hunger is probably due to its proteins, although it is suspected that the type of fat it contains also helps.

8. Orangers, to cheat hunger

It is one of the fruits that can leave us most satisfied by its large amount of water and fiber (that’s why its caloric density is very low).

When you eat it, do not eliminate the white pulp because a large amount of soluble fiber is concentrated there.

Another good reason to take it is its richness in vitamin C, one of those related to the tendency to gain weight.

Therefore, it is advisable that you ensure the necessary daily amount. Eat an apple and a kiwi, 4 tangerines…

Eat the necessary, neither more nor less

Eating is essential to live, but in the modern world food is increasingly becoming a necessity, a source of pure pleasure. It is not strange if we bear in mind that our brain always reaches the following conclusion: if we have “reservations”, we are safe.

They are reminiscent of our time of the caverns that still conserve our genes… and that can give us some annoyance with the scale. Because… what do we usually do after a bad day? We want to find a recovery in the pantry or refrigerator; a compensation, a way to ensure maximum well-being.

The worst thing is not to do it, but to repeat it without reflecting. Converting that gesture into routine can worsen eating habits and encourage weight to increase because we do not usually be aware of “those other foods” that we do quickly, even standing up.

We do not count them like the rest because we do not pay them the attention they require. The reason is that most of the time we do it as an automatic act and we do not even realize it.

Maybe we can not do much so that every day is perfect, but we can introduce into our meals foods with a great satiating effect. That way, any purpose of losing weight will be more successful and any change in your diet will mean less sacrifice.

On what does it depend that you feel satiated?

The satiating capacity of a food depends on several factors. Generally speaking, the less manipulated you are (the more natural) the more satisfied you will be.

In different studies it has been proven, for example, that processed products to which monosodium glutamate is added (in the labels appears as E61) inhibit the satiety signal and even awaken a compulsive reaction that can be comparable with addiction. That is why it is so difficult to leave a bag of chips half-baked or to curb the voracity for some sausages or patés.

Products that are very high in fat can also lead us to eat more because they activate the hunger hormone, ghrelin. With that “hyperactive” substance, we will hardly feel satiated.

In contrast to all this, what will help you to be satisfied will be…

• Foods with a high water content. They dilate the walls of the stomach, which sends a signal to the brain to indicate that it has eaten enough.
• Foods that are very rich in fiber, specifically the soluble type, which in contact with water swells and causes that same abdominal distension.
• Foods high in proteins. According to the Maastricht University (Netherlands), they owe their satiating capacity, among other reasons, to decrease the level of ghrelin (hunger hormone) and increase hormones involved in satiety (such as cholecystokinin). In addition, they increase energy expenditure because the body has a harder time digesting them.