How to reduce appetite: 14 scientifically proven ways

1. Eat More Protein

Research showsT. L. Halton, F. B. Hu. The effects of high protein diets on thermogenesis, satiety and weight loss: a critical review / Journal of the American College of Nutritionthat a diet high in protein saturates better, which means it reduces appetite. Therefore, after a piece of lean meat, you do not want to eat longer than after the same amount of vegetables. The rate is calculatedM. S. Westerterp-Plantenga, S. G. Lemmens, K. R. Westerterp. Dietary protein - its role in satiety, energetics, weight loss and health / The British journal of nutrition individually. Optimally - 0.8-1.2 g per kilogram of body weight. Most protein is found in meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products.

2. Eat More Fiber

She stretchesL. Chambers, K. McCrickerda, M. R. Yeomans. Optimizing foods for satiety / Trends in Food Science & Technology stomach, slows down its emptying and increases the release of the satiety hormone leptin. True, not every type of fiber works this way. Research shows that whole grains are the best appetite suppressants

D. N. Cooper, R. J. Martin, N. L. Keim. Does Whole Grain Consumption Alter Gut Microbiota and Satiety? / Healthcare and legumesS. S. Li, C. W. C. Kendall, R. J. de Souza, V. H. Jayalath, A. I. Cozma, V. Ha, A. Mirrahimi, L. Chiavaroli, L. S. A. Augustin, S. B. Mejia, L. A. Leiter, J. Beyene, D. J. A. Jenkins, J. L. Sievenpiper. Dietary pulses, satiety and food intake: A systematic review and meta-analysis of acute feeding trials / The Obesity Society products.

3. Eat more solid foods

In one studyB. A. Cassady, R. V. Considine, R. D. Mattes. Beverage consumption, appetite, and energy intake: what did you expect? / The American journal of clinical nutrition some of the subjects ate solid food for snacking, and the rest ate liquid food. It turned out that the members of the first group were hungry faster and did not appear longer.

And based on a meta-analysis of 22 studiesE. Robinson, E. Almiron-Roig, F. Rutters, C. de Graaf, C. G. Forde, C. T. Smith, S. J. Nolan, S. A. Jebb. A systematic review and meta-analysis examining the effect of eating rate on energy intake and hunger / The American journal of clinical nutrition Scientists have confirmed that if food has to be chewed for a long time, then saturation persists longer than usual. This means that the person will eat less.

4. Drink decaffeinated coffee

In experimentJ. A. Greenberg, A. Geliebter. Coffee, hunger, and peptide YY / Journal of the American College of Nutrition people were given decaffeinated coffee, the usual coffee and caffeine solution. It turned out that pure caffeine does not affect hunger, but decaf coffee perfectly reduces appetite due to properties still unknown to science. Regular coffee also affects appetite, but not so much.

5. Drink water before meals

Scientists believeR. A. Corney, C. Sunderland, L. J. James. Immediate pre-meal water ingestion decreases voluntary food intake in lean young males / European journal of nutritionthat if you drink 350-500 ml of water 30 minutes before meals, you can significantly reduce your appetite.

6. Read food labels

Researchers conducted an experimentA. J. Crum, W. R. Corbin, K. D. Brownell, P. Salovey. Mind over milkshakes: mindsets, not just nutrients, determine ghrelin response / Health psychology: official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, during which the participants were offered a cocktail. At the same time, one group was told that the calorie content of the drink was 620 kcal, and the second - 140 kcal. Both of them drank a glass, and they took a blood test for the hunger hormone ghrelin. Then the scientists gave the labels with the real calorie content (380 kcal) to be read, and after 60–90 minutes the participants repeated the procedure. It turned out that the level of ghrelin changed depending on the person's awareness of the higher or lower calorie content of the product.

7. Eat a wedge of dark chocolate

It turns out that he is capable ofL. B. Sørensen, A. Astrup. Eating dark and milk chocolate: a randomized crossover study of effects on appetite and energy intake / Nutrition & Diabetes suppress appetite. Moreover, milk chocolate does not have this property. And in another small studyE. T. Massolt, P. M. van Haard, J. F. Rehfeld, E. F. Posthuma, E. van der Veer, D. H. Schweitzer. Appetite suppression through smelling of dark chocolate correlates with changes in ghrelin in young women / Regulatory peptides managed to establish that bitter chocolate you can not eat: just smell it to feel full.

8. Eat ginger

Scientists gave subjects for breakfastM. S. Mansour, Yu-Ming Ni, A. L. Roberts, M. Kelleman, A. Roychoudhury, M.-P. St-Onge. Ginger consumption enhances the thermic effect of food and promotes feelings of satiety without affecting metabolic and hormonal parameters in overweight men: a pilot study / Metabolism: clinical and experimental hot drink with dissolved powder ginger. It turned out that it enhances the production of heat in the body and thus causes satiety, and also reduces the feeling of hunger.

9. Use hot spices

Hot pepper containsM.-J. Ludy, G. E. Moore, R. D. Mattes. The effects of capsaicin and capsiate on energy balance: critical review and meta-analyzes of studies in humans / Chemical senses the substance capsaicin, which just causes a burning sensation in the mouth. But researchers believe that this component It also suppresses appetite as it decreases ghrelin production, and further increases energy expenditure and increases fat oxidation, thereby reducing weight.

10. Use small plates

The amount of food that a person can eat is estimatedL. R. Vartanian, N. M. Reily, S. Spanos, C. P. Herman, J. Polivy. Self-reported overeating and attributions for food intake / Psychology & health approximately. If we put the same portions in plates of different sizes, then we will assume that there is much more food in the smaller dish than in the wide one, where there is free space. Research has shownB. Wansink, K. van Ittersum. Portion size me: plate-size induced consumption norms and win-win solutions for reducing food intake and waste / Journal of experimental psychology. Appliedthat this visual assessment also affects the feeling of satiety. Therefore, if you use a small plate and put less food in it, you can get full as well as a large portion.

11. Don't forget about physical activity

Aerobic exercise help reduce appetite. In one studyN. Evero, L. C. Hackett, R. D. Clark, S. Phelan, T. A. Hagobian. Aerobic exercise reduces neuronal responses in food reward brain regions / Journal of applied physiology the subjects were engaged on a stationary bike for 60 minutes after an overnight fast. Then the participants in the experiment underwent an MRI of the brain. It turned out that sports can help change the way neurons respond to food. Food didn’t generate as much interest as it did before exercise, and people also enjoyed eating less and didn’t wait to be able to eat.

Another studyM. M. Schubert, S. Sabapathy, M. Leveritt, B. Desbrow. Acute exercise and hormones related to appetite regulation: a meta-analysis / Sports medicine has shown that exercise suppresses the production of the appetite-enhancing hormone ghrelin.

12. Lose weight

The adipose tissue producesK. Kos, A. L. Harte, S. James, D. R. Snead, J. P. O'Hare, P. G. McTernan, S. Kumar. Secretion of neuropeptide Y in human adipose tissue and its role in maintenance of adipose tissue mass / American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism neuropeptide Y, which enhances appetite. So the more overweight, the more you want to eat. With weight loss, this desire will gradually decrease.

13. Get enough sleep

If a person sleeping less than the recommended 7-8 hours a day, hisK. Spiegel, E. Tasali, P. Penev, E. V. Cauter. Brief communication: Sleep curtailment in healthy young men is associated with decreased leptin levels, elevated ghrelin levels, and increased hunger and appetite / Annals of internal medicine feeling of hunger and appetite. I especially want high-calorie foods that contain a lot of carbohydrates. This is due to the fact that the production of the hormone leptin decreases, but the level of ghrelin increases.

14. Control stress

Research has shownE. Epela, R. Lapidus, B. McEwen, K. Brownell. Stress may add bite to appetite in women: a laboratory study of stress-induced cortisol and eating behavior / Psychoneuroendocrinologythat at stress the release of the hormone cortisol increases. He, in turn, activates mechanisms that increase appetite. Moreover, a person wants to eat more sweet, rich in simple carbohydrates food, which gives a lot of energy, but also contributes to the development of obesity.