I believe that many diabetics and people who have lost weight are familiar with the word “satiety”.
How can satiety help us better control sugar, weight and health?
Is satiety and satiety index what?
We often say that satiety can be divided into two types. One is satiety after eating, which can help us stop eating. The other is that there will be no hunger between meals, or for sugar lovers, hypoglycemia will not occur between meals.
We have all had such experiences. Some foods feel full after eating a little, and some foods feel full after eating more. This is because food types are one of the important factors that affect satiety.
For this reason, nutritionists have defined the satiety index of food-different satiety caused by eating different foods with the same calories, i.e. High satiety index for foods with strong satiety and low calories, low satiety index for foods with low satiety, and low satiety index for foods with high calories [1].
What is the satiety index of common foods?
Different foods have different satiety index due to different nutritional composition and tissue structure.
We arrange them from top to bottom according to the satiety index. Common foods with high satiety index include:
- High-quality protein, such as fish and poultry, lean meat, eggs, etc.; Whole grains, such as oatmeal, coarse cereal rice, beans, whole wheat bread, etc.; Fruits with low sugar content, such as oranges, grapefruit, apples, etc.; Dark, leafy green vegetables.
Foods with low satiety index include beverages, desserts, potato chips, biscuits, candies, etc.
What are the factors that affect satiety?
Careful friends may find that we usually don’t use the concept of satiety index very much, instead, we often talk about satiety. This is because the generation, regulation and evaluation of satiety are very complicated, and the concept of satiety index can only measure satiety from the perspective of food.
In general, the three most important factors that affect satiety are: blood sugar concentration, the amount of solid food left in the stomach, and psychological factors [2]. However, each factor is regulated by more factors, such as:
1. Blood glucose concentration
Generally speaking, the higher the blood sugar concentration, the more satiety we can get.
This is why after eating desserts and sweet drinks, we can easily feel full because of the rapid rise in blood sugar.
However, we need to remind everyone that if you eat these foods, your blood sugar will also drop rapidly after rising rapidly. The satiety obtained by eating a large amount of these foods will not last long, and the large fluctuation of blood sugar is also detrimental to your body. Therefore, for diabetics, this way of obtaining satiety is not desirable.
2. Amount of solid food retained in stomach
This is easy to understand. The more solid food remains in the stomach, the stronger the satiety.
Protein, fat and dietary fiber can prolong the retention time of food in the stomach, so a reasonable diet can help us to obtain a higher sense of satiety.
For example, after eating whole grains, the increase in blood sugar is relatively gentle. Although it will not immediately produce obvious satiety, whole grains are rich in dietary fiber and have higher protein than refined white rice flour. They stay in the stomach for a longer time, which can provide satiety for a longer time and is more conducive to sugar control and weight loss.
3. Psychological factors
A variety of psychological factors can affect satiety, such as whether food is delicious, whether food types are rich, tableware size, sleep time, psychological stress level, activity level, distraction during eating, eating out, eating with others, etc.
For example, it is especially easy to overeat when [under great pressure], and it is not easy to feel full. When eating while watching TV, it is easy to eat a lot unconsciously. When eating out, it is not easy to feel full when the food is delicious.
On the contrary, after strenuous exercise, one can often eat quickly. It is also easier to feel full by enjoying the delicious food you cook.
What are the common misconceptions about satiety?
We often feel that we can’t control our appetite, which may be because we are really not full. There are some misconceptions about satiety, which often lead to this state of “false satiety”, such as:
Myth 1: If the satiety index of fruits is high, fruits will replace staple food-although the unit calorie of fruits is relatively low, the satiety of eating fruits is far less than that of eating staple food, and replacing staple food with fruits is likely to unconsciously consume more calories than eating staple food.
Myth 2: Snacks and sweets are delicious, so use them instead of staple food-snacks. Sweets are not only high in calories, but also contain a large amount of added sugar, which can rapidly increase blood sugar.
Although eating snacks and sweets may produce satiety quickly, because they are all foods with low satiety index, they will also starve very quickly after eating them. This state of constant hunger will make it difficult for people to control their appetite and thus consume more calories.
In addition, from a health point of view, sugar lovers should not eat snacks and sweets to avoid sharp fluctuations in blood sugar. Healthy people should also take appropriate intake to reduce the intake of added sugar.
Myth 3: Vegetables are low in calories, so vegetables are used instead of staple food-eating only boiled vegetables may produce temporary satiety, but it is absolutely impossible to provide satiety and various nutrients brought by staple food, and it is difficult to stick to them for a long time.
If you choose to use stir-fried dishes instead of staple food, you are likely to consume too much oil and salt, which is more unfavorable to health and weight loss.
Myth 4: If the protein satiety index is high, excessive intake of protein-in the short term, excessive intake of protein will increase the metabolic burden of liver and kidney, which is absolutely undesirable for sugar lovers complicated with diabetic nephropathy.
Sugar control, weight loss and satiety, what should I do?
1. Food choices: Diverse but not excessive
Eat staple food at every meal. The staple food should be coarse and fine. Coarse food accounts for at least half of the staple food and can be appropriately increased according to one’s gastrointestinal function. The staple food can be freely matched with whole wheat bread, oatmeal, brown rice, coarse cereal rice, potatoes, etc.
Eat a proper amount of high-quality protein for each meal. The total daily protein intake is about 65 g for men and 55 g for women. It can be distributed in three meals a day as follows: a boiled egg and a cup of skim milk for breakfast, a palm-sized fish, poultry or lean meat for lunch, and a fist-sized tofu for dinner.
Eat a small amount of high-quality fatty acids at each meal, and the total intake of edible oil in a day is not more than 3 teaspoons: the easiest way is to choose cooking and cold mixing methods, so that too much edible oil will not be added and the high-quality unsaturated fatty acids in edible oil will not be damaged.
At least 250 g of vegetables should be taken in each meal for two meals in the afternoon and evening. Dark vegetables and green leafy vegetables should be preferred, and vegetables should be eaten before staple food.
If you feel hungry between meals, you can choose a proper amount of healthy snacks such as fruits, nuts, low-fat and low-sugar yogurt and other extra meals to avoid hypoglycemia or excessive hunger, causing overeating at the next meal.
Reduce the frequency of drinking, drinking should be moderate; For diabetics, it is best not to drink alcohol.
2. Dining method: Choose small dishes and concentrate on eating.
Changing family tableware into small bowls and dishes will help increase satiety. Pay attention when eating, don’t eat while watching TV, and don’t eat snacks while watching TV. Reduce the number of meals out.
3. Lifestyle: Regular Work and Rest and Regular Exercise
Work and rest on time, eat, don’t stay up late; Regular exercise 3-5 times a week, aerobic exercise combined with strength training during exercise, can not only relieve pressure, control blood sugar level, but also help control appetite.
What kind of people are suitable for high satiety index food?
Sugar lovers and healthy people who are overweight and obese (BMI > 24 kg/m 2) are more suitable to choose diets with high satiety index as the main food.
For the thinner people (BMI < 18.5 kg/m ~ 2), the elderly and the people with poor gastrointestinal function, Foods with high satiety index are not suitable. On the contrary, foods that are easy to digest, such as flour and rice (such as white rice and flour), should be taken as staple food, with sufficient high-quality protein, supplemented by appropriate amount of vegetables and fruits, and the intake of high-quality fatty acids can be appropriately increased. In addition, this group of people is more suitable for eating less and eating more.
Hungry and miserable, or full and healthy?
The human body already has a very perfect mechanism to regulate appetite, so as to ensure that we will not be too fat and run past tigers, and at the same time ensure that we will not be too thin and carry through severe winter. In other words, appetite and eating behavior should be as natural as breathing and heartbeat, and can be maintained normally without deliberate attention.
However, in this era of nationwide weight loss, many people want to go on a deliberate diet. In fact, it is very difficult to consciously control appetite, eat less and maintain a hungry state for a long time. On the contrary, it may cause various eating disorders.
In contrast, it is preferable not to pay too much attention or deliberately suppress appetite, but to shift this attention to choosing healthy food and forming scientific eating habits.
In fact, if you eat healthy food on demand every day, you can feel full satiety. Not to mention the healthy food itself is delicious, with wheat fragrance of whole grains, different colors and aromas of fruits and vegetables, delicious seafood, mellow milk and tender tofu. Sugar control, weight loss and healthy diet can also be enjoyed very much.