The Satiety Index.
I love croissants. Which is why I wish what I was about to share wasn’t true.
Here in Nottingham we benefit from many places selling croissants from Welbeck bakery. They’re incredible. I indulge every now and then and love every mouthful. If a study came out saying they were some sort of superfood, I’d let my confirmation bias run amok and wouldn’t even read past the abstract.
But sadly. They suck.
No, not because of carbs. No not because they’re basically butter and fine white flour alchemised into a tasty treat covered in yet more butter. 😋
Because they make you less full, per calorie, than any other food.
I introduce you to the satiety index.
One of the absolute most important elements of a successful diet is satiety. Simply. How full you feel most of the day.
I don’t care how strong you think your willpower is. Except in thankfully rare cases of severe eating disorders, hunger will drive most of us most of the time to eat, eventually.
In order to lose weight, we have to create a calorie deficit. When in a calorie deficit you’re going to be hungry. To a degree, a stoic acceptance of this is necessary for a successful fat loss mission. But why make that hill steeper than it needs to be?
If you could eat the same number of calories but feel more satiated, you’d have an easier time sticking to your plan and getting the result you’re chasing.
Hunger vs satiety is one of the most important concepts to consider when you’re trying to lean out. If not THE most important.
Scientists know this, and have taken efforts to produce something called the satiety index. The index simply looks at a variety of foods and ranks them from most filling to least filling. With my beloved croissants bringing up the rear as the worst food of all. With the humble boiled white potato being the most filling (per calorie) food on the list, at 6.8x more filling than croissant.
This surprises a lot of people, who may avoid potato due to carbs, or glycemic index or whatnot. But from a practical point of view, they can be a great food to make a staple.
I’m not suggesting that the satiety index is THE answer. But it is a piece of the puzzle. From a sheer practicality perspective, foods that make us fuller on fewer calories make weight loss journeys easier by making hunger a less formidable foe. Foods that provide larger amounts of calories but don’t fill us up make the foe more powerful and ever present.
As a general rule:
More protein = higher satiety index
More fibre = higher satiety index
Fats and sugars combined = lowest satiety index. (Think cake, cookies, doughnuts)
Here are two links for you:
The first is to my upcoming masterclass on permanent fat loss. Thai seminar will ties in the above and many other factors you need aligned to achieve ever lasting leanness.
HEALTHY DISCUSSION | PERMANENT FAT LOSS SEMINAR
The second is a link to a helpful article on the satiety index and a useful printable example of it.
http://www.ernaehrungsdenkwerkstatt.de/fileadmin/user_upload/EDWText/TextElemente/Ernaehrungswissenschaft/Naehrstoffe/Saettigung_Lebensmittel_Satiety_Index.pdf
