Fat – Your Friend – In Small Doses!
Generally, foods which are higher in fat are generally higher in energy density, due to the fact that fat has a higher energy density than protein or carbohydrates; 9 calories per gram, compared to 4 calories per gram for protein and carbohydrates.
This fact is the reason for the popularity and success of the low-fat diet.
It has seized on an important method of lowering energy density in the diet.
Taking this one step is an important step to lowering the energy density of the diet and will go along way to making you feel full on fewer calories, allowing successful weight loss.
Reducing Fat is only Part of the Answer
Unless you make changes in other areas of the diet, your weight loss may be limited or completely undermined – if you are, for example, eating lots of energy dense non-fibrous carbohydrate foods instead.
A number of controlled studies have found that fat and carbohydrates have similar effects on satiety when they are consumed in food of similar energy densities.
Also, there is some evidence that including some fat in the diet is important for appetite control.
As discussed (‘Appetite and Satiety Hormones); for optimum satiety to be achieved, it seems that, the more of the satiety mechanisms that can be activated, the better.
A Study which Shows That Including Fat in the Diet is Superior to Complete Exclusion, for Appetite Control
A group of subjects took part in two separate paired experiments, involving high-fat and high-carbohydrate soups.
In the first experiment subjects received direct intragastric (straight into the stomach) infusions of;
A high-fat tomato soup
Or a high-carbohydrate tomato soup,
(Both 400 kcal in 425 ml) over 15 min, on two occasions.
In the second paired experiment, subjects ingested (consumed via the mouth), the same high-fat and high-carbohydrate soup over 15 min.
They were then given an ad libitum (eat as much as you like) test meal later.
When soup was administered intra-gastrically (straight into the stomach), both the high-fat and high-carbohydrate soup preloads suppressed appetite ratings from baseline, but there were no differences in ratings of hunger and fullness, food intake from the test meal, or rate of gastric emptying between the two soup preloads.
However, when the same soups were ingested (consumed via the mouth) ,
- the high-fat soup suppressed hunger, induced fullness, and slowed gastric emptying more than the high-carbohydrate soup
and also tended to be more effective at reducing energy intake from the test meal.
This is supportive evidence that, including some fat in the diet is beneficial for appetite control, even if it means that energy density is slightly higher.
By activating a separate mechanism, appetite levels are reduced more effectively, despite the energy density being slightly higher.
The message is, DON’T try to cut out all fat from your diet.
Include Small Amounts of Fat, Combined in Meals With Low Energy Dense/ High Fibre Foods (Fruit and Vegetables) and Protein.
By combining small amounts of fat with protein and high fibre carbohydrates, your body will receive the short- term satiating effects of high fibre carbohydrate foods, preventing you from over-eating, with the longer term satiating effects of fat and protein.
The other interesting message to be taken from the above study is the fact that there are other satiety mechanisms than those enacted by sensors on the stomach.
It appears that oro-sensory stimulation, (the experience of food as it is ingested via the mouth) plays an important role in appetite regulation.
This could explain those occasions where, even though you have consumed a meal, which contained adequate protein, adequate bulk and adequate calories; you still feel a craving for certain foods.
This is often for something sweet , following a meal.
It may be that the meal did not fully satisfy the sensory– appetite regulation pathways.
In which case; to alleviate the cravings, you may need something sweet to satisfy that particular sensory pathway.
The trick would then be to alleviate the craving for something sweet, without going over board on calories, e.g. if your craving is for something sweet – an orange may do the trick.
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