Nutrition Basics: Satiety

Let me introduce you to what I call, "the french fry effect."

You sit down to a meal and you can eat three full plates of french fries.  Afterward, you feel a bit sick and a bit hungry, but somehow you ate all those potatoes without a problem.

The next day, you sit down to a meal and you are served one dry baked potato.  You can hardly finish it!

Why does this happen?

It all comes down to satiety, or what makes you feel full.  Strangely, the body does not register fat as food.  It is more than double the calories of carbs or protein, but the body doesn't really recognize it as food when it comes to eating.

Researchers say that the body sees dietary fat as emergency store.  It's not for everyday energy burning.  That's what carbohydrates are for.  Your muscles, your brain, your nervous system and many organs run purely on glucose aka carbs.  That's why when you eat carbs, it goes straight to your muscles and organs for use.  When you eat fat, it goes straight to your butt for storage.

So, when meal time comes, the foods that fill you up most are foods with:

-fiber
-protein
-water

That's why foods like beans and rice are so filling.  Every culture has their version of grains and legumes.  Beans and rice.  Corn and beans.  Wheat and lentils.  Rice and soy.  Many cultures' cuisines are defined by these foods.

Add fat and suddenly, your satiety is thrown off.  The body says, "Hey!  That's not regular food.  Send down more regular food."  So, you eat more.  A lot more...  just trying to get full.

By cutting added fat out of your diet, you get a double bonus.  Not only will you consume fewer calories by removing the added fat, but you also will get full sooner because there's no fat to throw off your satiety.

It's the most amazing thing.  When I started eating and cooking this way, I could only eat about 2/3 of the food I was able to eat previously.  Weight loss happened without even thinking about it or feeling like you are depriving yourself of good food.

So, eat!  Cut out the fat.  And stop eating when you feel full.  You'll be on your way to better health and effortless weight loss in no time.