Choosing Foods With a High Satiety to Calorie Ratio

by Stevie Duncan | Jun 27, 2022 | Uncategorized

Patrick Rowe, Ph.D.

MetabolicMD Florida Clinical Director

Cognitive science—the study of how the mind works, functions, and behaves—stems from various disciplines such as philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence and aims to understand how the brain makes a decision or performs a task. Bear with me here; there is a point to this.

Choose High Satiety to Calorie Ratio Foods

One of the key takeaways from this field is that decision-making, mainly routine daily decisions, requires us to simplify complex information to make decisions that will move us toward a desired outcome.

We all do this countless times daily without being aware of it. In other words, we don’t need to understand how things work in great detail to navigate our day successfully.

Example of How to Navigate Your Body Chemistry

For example, most of us enjoy a cup of coffee shortly after waking up, but very few of us understand precisely how modern coffee machines work or the chemistry that leads to a great cup of coffee. Fill it up with water and hit the button. Easy.

That said, how do you think about different types of foods? To make food choices, we all tend to categorize foods based on various criteria that differ from person to person.

Some people focus on calories (high-calorie foods vs. low-calorie foods), while others view food choices from the perspective of whole foods and processed foods.

Still others use criteria to define foods as either healthy or unhealthy. For this article, let’s focus on a different, less common way to classify and think about foods: the satiety-to-calorie ratio.

Definition of Satiety

Satiety is defined as a state of non-eating, characterized by the absence of hunger, which follows at the end of a meal and arises from the consequences of food ingestion. Said another way, eating a very filling, satisfying meal or snack will lead to satiety.

The urge to continue eating will dramatically diminish, and the drive to snack in the hours after eating such a meal or snack will be lessened. Who wouldn’t want to finish a meal and feel full, though not overly so? It’s hard to argue that this isn’t a practical goal when choosing foods to eat as a snack or foods that can be assembled together into a meal.

How Energy Density Relates to High Satiety

Now that we’ve covered the concept of satiety, let’s turn to an understanding of energy density (calorie density). Think of all foods on a spectrum from very low energy density (i.e., iceberg lettuce) to very high energy density (i.e., olive oil).

Foods that are very low in calories per weight or volume will have a very low energy density, while foods that are very high in calories per volume will have a very high energy density.

Given the choice between an apple and a candy bar, which one will have a lower energy density if considering an equivalent serving size, such as 100 grams?

The apple will have fewer calories per 100 grams and a lower energy density than a candy bar.

Understanding High Satiety to Calorie Ratio

Now let’s tie these two concepts together to explain the satiety-to-calorie ratio of foods and meals.

I like to think of this concept: you could eat a 500-calorie meal that fills you up and leaves you satisfied, or you could eat a 500-calorie meal that leaves you still hungry and wanting to eat more.

Satiety and Weight Control

Which is the better option for weight control? Given the two options, the 500-calorie meal that satisfies your hunger will be a more effective strategy for losing or maintaining weight.

The former represents a meal with higher satiety per calorie; it is more filling for the same total calories as the latter option.

Things get interesting when you realize you can assemble a meal with fewer calories than you typically eat, but it’s more filling at the same time. Eat fewer calories but don’t feel deprived at all. Win, win.

While there is no universally agreed-upon perfect way to calculate the satiety of a variety of foods, it’s broadly accepted that protein and fiber promote satiety.

In this way, food that contains a more significant percentage of total calories as protein will be more filling than food with less protein.

Similarly, food that contains a larger amount of fiber (grams) will be more filling than food with less fiber.

Many foods contain both protein and fiber in varying amounts, and, calorie for calorie, foods with a significant amount of both protein and fiber will have an additive effect on satiety. Beans are a good example of a food with a significant amount of both protein and fiber.

High Satiety to Calorie Ratio and Metabolic Health

In the context of metabolic health, it's important to emphasize the difference between planning a meal with satiety alone as the goal and planning a meal with a high satiety-to-calorie ratio as the goal.

The strategy for the latter goal would limit foods or additions that add calories without contributing significantly to the overall satiety of the meal, whereas the strategy for the former would not.

High-protein foods (protein represents the majority of calories):

Chicken
Eggs
Steak
Pork
Fish (tuna, salmon, mackerel)
Shellfish (oysters, mussels)

High-fiber foods (low in calories):

Lettuce
Spinach
Celery
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Asparagus
Zucchini
Jackfruit
Artichoke hearts
High in protein and fiber:
Beans (garbanzo, kidney, black, lupini)
Tempeh (soybeans, peas)

Calculating Satiety to Calorie Ratio

There is a useful online calculator (https://www.satietypercalorie.com/) that gives you a satiety score for many different foods.

You can also plug in the nutrition label info for a food item to get its satiety score. A higher score is better; it means more filling per calorie.

Below are several foods and their respective satiety scores.

Snickers bar = 0.1
Cheetos = 6
Purely Elizabeth original ancient grains granola (7g added sugar) = 14
Ice cream = 23
Purely Elizabeth keto vanilla almond granola (4g added sugar) = 27
Apple = 38
Kellogs Raisin Bran = 35
Cheerios = 44
Oatmeal = 55
Medium size turnip (raw) = 56 (based on 122g serving)
Avinola keto granola (no added sugar) = 60
Fried egg = 62
Cooked spinach = 65
Broccoli = 69
Black beans = 75
Asparagus = 73
Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) = 74
Simply Snackin black bean chicken snack bar= 80
Sardines= 83
Catalina Crunch keto cereal = 84
Brami snacking lupini beans = 100
Nutritional yeast = 100

What are some easy ways to increase the satiety-to-calorie ratio of a meal?

(More fiber) Add a turnip, greens, and/or other non-starchy high-fiber vegetables to scrambled eggs.
(More fiber) Add sliced cucumber, green peppers, and/or other non-starchy high-fiber vegetables to a sandwich or to accompany a protein-heavy sandwich (instead of potato chips, French fries, or piece of fruit).
(More fiber) Pair the protein component of a meal with broccoli, cauliflower, cauliflower rice, or asparagus
(More protein) Add canned tuna/salmon/sardines to a side salad with little or no protein
(More protein & fiber) Add lupini beans to meals or salads that have little or no protein
(More fiber) Got some leftover chicken/steak/fish? Make a quick green smoothie using non-starchy high-fiber vegetables (kale, spinach, etc.) to pair with your protein for a quick meal (use low-carb/no-sugar bases such as nut milks and/or lemon/lime juice along with ginger and a bit of artificial sweetener such as Stevia drops).

Monitoring Your Progress with Technology

At MetabolicMDs, we believe in combining nutritional approaches like focusing on high-satiety-to-calorie ratio foods with modern technology.

Get the Support You Need with MetabolicMDs

Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) allow you to see in real time how different foods affect your blood sugar, providing valuable insights into which high-satiety foods work best for your unique metabolism.

Work With MetabolicMDs to Transform Your Relationship With Food

Ready to implement these principles with professional guidance? MetabolicMDs offers comprehensive weight management programs that include:

Personalized nutritional guidance focusing on high satiety-to-calorie ratio foods
Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) to optimize your food choices
Customized exercise and strength training programs
Medical supervision from licensed physicians

Our medical team is licensed in Arizona, Ohio, Indiana, and Florida, and we offer weight loss programs nationwide.

Don't struggle alone with hunger and cravings when a science-based approach can transform your relationship with food.

Contact MetabolicMDs Today to schedule your consultation and discover how focusing on foods with a high satiety-to-calorie ratio can help you achieve lasting weight management success without the constant battle against hunger.